


US

by Moonsetta



Series: DUO [6]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Kissing, Love, M/M, Monster fic, Romance, Touch, relationship, sensation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-21 21:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 73,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2483564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonsetta/pseuds/Moonsetta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>IT. IF Bruce and Dick had actual feelings for one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. US

**Author's Note:**

> ChibiFoxAI is now my BETA-READER for this story! YYYYYAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!
> 
> So, due to reviewing and proofreading by my Beta I now I feel a bit more confident about posting this. Thank you!

It started on June 20th.

Bruce knew how it had started because he was logical. In fact, it actually made a lot of sense when he thought over it. When it came to his first protégé it was…so simple that it was complicated. His mind admittedly was NOT on the reports he was flipping through quite quickly. He reprimanded himself for that and slowed down, pausing enough to make it appear that he was looking over them with intended purpose. Distantly he heard his family calling out a good night including…

He gulped and pushed away the tablet he had been using.

Admittedly his head was still rolling from the news the day before as well as what had just happened with Nightwing. Perhaps the effect could have been a sign of stress from a more 'average' man-but he was Batman!

-And everything going on was just trouble.

This THING-didn't need to stack itself on top of everything he already had to deal with!

Having to carefully navigate the treaty paperwork from the Beta-6 sector for the JLA was taking enough of his time. Not that the politically filled papers from his own American government weren't full of ridiculous twists and turns but double the paperwork did NOT help.

…and Dick Grayson wasn't helping either!

Bruce mentally slapped himself for thinking so. His family and allies had been very efficient lately. They knew something big was going on with the League and his public life and when they all learned about Mrs. Fields…well-he still wasn't ready for the response to that. It was still varied on how Gotham would respond. Either way, every member of his team had been busy with little but crime fighting as of late. He had no reason to complain given that even the quaintest crime-stopping efficiency rating was up by 14%.

Bruce reached for his tablet again, tapping the corner of the screen to close the documents before he was scrolling among the pages of data files. It took little time to find it.

-A small .mp3 file that was barely large enough to affect the memory of an ordinary citizen's wristwatch.

He opened the file and listened to the announcement for the 13th time.

_"I'm happy to bring my methods to Gotham City Mr. Mayor. Criminals have plagued this city for far too long. Too many of them deserved the hanging rope years ago, if not decades. I'll have Project Penalty ready for application by December 14th. Now are you-"_

He closed the file and set the tablet down. The message had ended with a thump that he assumed to be either a quickly closed door or a heavy piece of furniture between his planted bug and the conversation. It wasn't a problem-he could plant more or send one of his teammates to do so tomorrow.

Bruce allowed himself to lean back and think well-remember. Ever since a rotten deal on the Gotham Docks had led to a scrape between the Babylon and Enigma gangs one event had just followed another. A single member of the Babylon had had ties to the Black Market. Normally it wasn't something Batman would have perused personally. Cases like those he tended to leave be if they weren't causing much harm. He didn't exactly prioritize a black clad teenager getting their hands on the new Disney title prerelease as more important than say-a factory in New York covering up an ARM group poisoning aspirin at local convenience stores that was causing numerous deaths among the population. The trail had been thin-but he was used to that. The Babylon in question was a 33 year old illegal alien with a relatively unknown past pre-immigration into the USA. What Bruce had gotten Oracle to uncover was a long stream of very bad decisions that had made him desperate but wanted by a few bad bosses in the underground. One of which was a 28 year old business man named Millis Tumner. Who himself was a public businessman from surprisingly, Greenland.

What Batman had missed in all that though and he was still kind of punching himself for-was that he had tracked the Black Market Boss to New York. He hadn't bothered to tell anyone. Trails that lead to big black market CEO's tended to dry up or are covered up fast. While he had had Oracle's help with the Babylon he hadn't mentioned that he would be tracking Tumner. So when he had found his way to the basement of the Balan Factory of New York City he was shocked to already find two black coated agents cuffing the ARM men together. A single female was stringing them together with extra chains while the male was talking to a very scrunched up faced Nightwing.

New York. Stupid!

Of course it would have to be his partner, not one of the dozens of free lancers in New York City, not a different member of the Outsiders, not one of the Justice Society- who Bruce was beginning to suspect wanted to officially get the 'Nightwing was part of our group' badge. Maybe he would have just turned and left it alone but his vantage point allowed him to pick up the conversation between his protégé and the agents.

Now they hadn't been on the wrong trail-they were right on it actually. Nightwing was picking out the clues to the Black Market tie-in from the papers that were spread out on a nearby table beside him and the male agent who was also simultaneously scrutinizing the chemical tube containing one of the poisons that had been injected into the aspirin. It wasn't their faults that they were behind because they didn't have the information he did to the Babylon gang. Truthfully, he could have done it better than delivering the info to the agents' car via Batarang. He COULD have dropped in, brought the information he had to his partner and they could have put it together well-together. It wasn't until he was the receiving end of a rooftop glare and sneer that Bruce realized that he probably should have done that instead.

Eh…he didn't like Dick being angry with him.

Bruce again, was intelligent. More than smart enough to know that among their world of gods, aliens, killer robots and personified forces-they were unique as humans who had to face the same situations and consequences. Still, a lot of that power came from the 'strength in numbers' and 'buddy' systems they frequently used. Which they used-because they worked! Getting angry on Nightwing's part had been foolish. Then again it had been foolish on Batman's part to get involved with a case that was clearly already going to be solved and he was still unsure why he had done it. He had no desire to knock his partner down a peg or two. The man was clearly untouchable already with his connections. If Bruce had really ever hurt him-the Titans, The Outsiders, The League just-many people would let him know. He made a half attempt of an explanation to his own mind that maybe it was just nostalgia. They had, once upon a time, solved these cases together and they readily still could. Dick didn't need him to though.

That was the stereotypical argument there-the apprentice wanted to prove themselves to be good enough and instill pride but the mentor wanted to keep the success of that protégé with him because they were already proud.

It was one heck of a cycle, one side constantly bending in pain to appease the other to achieve some form of circular balance.

In that moment though where Nightwing had been upset Batman-well Bruce-had made an erratic decision and lied.

_"I was simply stopping by to see you."_

_"Then why didn't you call?"_

_"I wanted to see you in person."_

_"…why?"_

_"This weekend."_

_"What about it?"_

_"Patrol. You and me. Like it used to be. No one else will be back until Sunday evening."_

_"…Boss, are you OK?"_

It wouldn't have been too farfetched at that moment to assume he'd been on to something. Maybe it hadn't happened mere hours ago-perhaps it had been then that it had first bled through the wall?

_"I'll be on my own in Gotham. I could use your help."_

Truthfully no-it wasn't unusual for Batman to ask for help. The most important times in his career involved a partner, an ally or a team. So it hadn't been too weird. Even if they had returned to Gotham together and left the fight on the rooftop Dick was still clearly a bit angry. All of which could have been avoided with a phone call. OK, so sometimes Batman was really damn stupid. Because he had lied…in a way. So maybe he had slipped some things here and there to ensure everyone would be gone before they arrived in Gotham. He knew Alfred had seen through him in an instant (even if they had solely just been on the phone) and that was the only reason he hadn't used his butler-stubborn powers when Bruce had made a suggestion about London. An offer to finish patrolling New York had bought Batman enough time for the contingency plans, sending missions to the others via commlink while Nightwing was battering down a drunken man in a polar bear suit in an alleyway below.

A year later, he would finally ask Alfred how he had managed to see what was occurring before even Batman could. And of course the Bat Butler would just smile and wave nonchalantly before he returned to a novel ironically titled, Diving Hearts.

Bruce readjusted in his seat and turned slightly to glance up at the ceiling. He couldn't hear anything that his family was doing upstairs through the stone but he imagined he could.

The weekend had been very easy, both of the original Dynamic Duo slipping back into familiar stances and techniques and the air between them had been light, even if that little bit of tension from New York was still there. Everything had turned itself on its head mere hours ago though. Truthfully, Batman had wanted to begin analyzing how everyone would take the announcement of Mrs. Fields about her Penalty Project but with everyone gone…Eh? There wasn't much on the project but the .mp3 file he had from that bug in the Mayor's office though, so he wouldn't have had much to present to his team anyways. He and Nightwing had already made a stop on Sunday evening to scope out and to poke around the Mayor's filing cabinets and computer files. They found nothing of Bat-Interest, though perhaps Bruce Wayne could later take advantage of the fact that the Mayor had a strange similar fondness for blueberry turnovers.

That was until a few hours ago when they had gotten a call to return home given everyone else had been lured to the manor by a Pennyworth Promised Dinner when they had all arrived in Gotham in the mid to late evening.

Batman and Nightwing had a last half an hour patrol together-not unusual.

Until they had run into a weapon stash being transported by some very recognizable minions of Oswald Cobblepot. Batman had said nothing after the edge of a particle beam had hit and obliterated his cowl's internal armor because apparently two days of nostalgia drowning had left him off balance. At least-that's what he had deemed it at first.

Bruce lowered his gaze from the cave ceiling, eyeing the air in front of him like there wasn't a giant computer screen in front of him or numerous files on the desk beneath his hands. Gloves still on, he raised his right hand to his forehead. The red shade had long faded away but he could still feel the pressure beneath his skin and feel IT too. That was the only name he had for it at the moment even if intellectually he knew very well what it was. Again, he was not stupid so he very well KNEW how these stories went.

IT happened to a lot of people and it had happened between coworkers too. That wasn't unusual. Denial would not get him anywhere-so he hadn't tried. He was experienced enough to know that it wouldn't help anything. Anger wasn't on the forefront of his mind either. IT wasn't making him upset at all. He was happy dammit!

And he didn't know what the hell to do with that!

This revelation should have spun his head and at this point, as a fast learner, perhaps he should have been bringing up every point of why this was bad but nothing had gotten rid of IT. This feeling wasn't going to go.

Damn it!

He needed a plan. Mrs. Fields Project wouldn't even hit the political lines until December (estimated Bat-guess) and he didn't expect that there would be much on it before the beginning of the month. Even then, it had to pass numerous production reports and committees. Such ideas normally didn't get very far but if she did have political sway with the Mayor…

Damn. It was just too early to tell and his thoughts were drifting back to-IT.

OK…this was happening. He got that.

With that Bruce leaned forward and let his right hand fall back onto the desk, his eyes now on the reports in the folders below. All he saw were random letters and numbers though. They weren't helping either. There was no equation for this: The Penalty Project, the Beta-6 sector negotiations, his normal nocturnal activities, Wayne Enterprises and now…this.

One thing at a time and the problem that was closest at the moment was his partner and this-thing! He had to handle IT first. He just wished he could see Dick's reaction ahead of time.

Plan. Long plan. This would take time. It would need to take a long time.

Bruce straightened up and reached for the tablet in front of him again, tapping quickly to bring up a blank document and the digital keyboard.

Step 1: Initiate act that indicates trust. (June 27th)

Step 2: Keep trust.

Step 3: Personal one-on-one time.

Step 4: Confess. (October 1st)

Step 5: Cooling period.

Step 6: Calm discussion. (October 8th-Morning)

Step 7: Initiate intimacy.

Step 8: Cooling 2? /receive intimacy?

Step 9: Profit. (Pre-December 14th)

Step 10: Effect&Consequence

It was a start and if he saved it as well-it was his tablet!

"Master Bruce, are you coming to dinner?"

"Shortly, Alfred."

_Step 1. Estimated Time of Initiation: 1 Week_

* * *

"Is Alfred mad at you again?" Dick Grayson asked as he followed his mentor out of Wayne Manor's den where they had left Tim and Damian fighting over pizza.

Bruce nearly stopped in his tracks but picked up the pace towards his study a mere millisecond later.

"Hmm."

Behind him his eldest protégé sighed under his breath in sad acceptance that he wasn't going to give in to be a great conversationalist for the evening but as Bruce turned to open his study door he caught a smirk on Dick's face that said 'I knew it.' Bruce gave the younger man no invitation to gloat though and motioned him towards the inside of his study. Dick raised an eyebrow but stepped through and immediately headed for the couch on the far side of the room. Of course, he could already guess that the meeting in question was about Millis Tumner, the PREVIOUS Black Market Boss that had been covering an ARM poisoning operation in an aspirin factory in New York City. The man had apparently been making sporadic trips between Gotham, Augusta, New York, Trenton, Metropolis and strangely Niagara Falls in some pattern only Batman had been able to see.

This night Dick was a bad guesser. At least about their enemies, the guess that Alfred had been slowly torturing his employer for the past few months with meals had been obvious. So thereby it wasn't really a full point for him but-it was what it was.

As expected, while Dick settled himself on the couch of faded cloth, Bruce headed for his desk. Dick expected the older man to sit in his chair and begin pulling out files and papers of all sorts but he didn't even sit down! Bruce simply opened a drawer, removed something (which he curled his hand around so the younger man couldn't see it) and then looked across the room to lock his dark blue eyes with his protégé's admittedly lighter ones.

"Uh, Bruce?"

"How did you know?"

"Uh…know what?" Dick tensed in the possibility of humiliation.

"Alfred."

"Oh," Dick breathed and sighed in relief.

Thanks goodness, he wasn't going to get shocked by a Taser or something! He had been scared for a minute there!

"Starch, you're walking stiffer than usual."

Bruce kind of pouted which made the younger man smile mockingly at him. So Alfred had decided on a crossfire attack with laundry torture as well!

Suddenly, Bruce set his mouth into a straight line that warned Dick that it was time for a 'serious' talk.

"Great!" Dick mumbled under his breath.

Bruce obviously chose to ignore the breathed-line in favor of crossing the room, his hand still curled around the object he had fished out of the drawer of his desk. Dick went to speak but snapped his jaw shut when Bruce began speaking instead.

"You did a great job with the Millis operation last week."

"Uh, thanks?"

The older man cleared his throat, "Yes that was a compliment."

"…"

"…"

"Not that I don't appreciate every single one you give me Bruce but…what?"

"Um, due to some recent…interventions-"

"Alfred's been giving you plain, lumpy oatmeal for breakfast again-hasn't he?"

Bruce's shoulders dropped with the released breath of defeat which caused Dick to grin in the fervor of being right for the first time in a long time that also double-acted as a psychological playful jab at his mentor. Now, if only he could get one of those back from his guardian instead of a brick wall of silence (that he'd been receiving for months) or a full blown mental heart punch.

"Anyways, it's not a secret that we've had…our disagreements over the years."

Dick frowned. He wasn't even going to supply a response to THAT one! That argument/issue was much too old.

"Either way…" Bruce trailed off and looked down to his curled up hand.

OH! Dick knew that look! That was the I-need-to-say-something-important-but-my-personality-makes-it-impossible look that the older man used on him near all of the time these days.

Aggravated more by Batman at the moment than actually Bruce Wayne, Dick got to his feet and stood before his mentor for a long five seconds. The elder unsurprisingly didn't say anything more for those five seconds, which Dick decided was the extent of his patience for the moment as he prepared to turn and walk towards the door. If Bruce wanted to stop him-he would.

He did.

Before the younger man could even complete the turn his mentor's strong grasp was around his arm and he was suddenly speaking.

"I trust you."

Dick blinked…and blinked a second time…

-What the heck was he supposed to do with that?

But the strange exclamation did make him turn back towards Bruce with a question in his eyes but not necessarily on his tongue. He didn't get a second chance to ask the question mental or otherwise when the hand that had wrapped itself around his forearm to stop his turn suddenly changed position to the center of his chest and gently pushed him back down onto the couch.

Dick thought he heard a gasp of breath but that very well could have been his own or the result of Bruce applying pressure to his chest and therefore his lungs. As a result of the movement, Bruce's other hand had uncurled itself from the object he was holding. Though annoyingly, his hand was still big enough to hide it from the younger man's gaze.

"Bruce-what is this?"

Bruce cleared his throat and finally turned the object over in his hand. Said object turned out to be a small clamp box covered in a layer of black velvet.

They didn't see the wide eyes at the door.

"Um…and I'm confused."

Bruce nodded in understanding before taking a single deep breath for time to gather his thoughts.

"You're still mad at me."

"Well you did swoop in and stomp all over my investigation back in New York!" the younger man pointed out.

"I'm sorry."

Dick sighed, his hands raising themselves to rub at his eyes in irritation. He, once again, found himself believing Bruce despite history, his emotional attachment and well-all degrees of common sense!

Before he could remove the hands covering his eyes though, his right was taken by his mentor's much larger, stronger hand. Dick managed a single blink before the hand was pulling him up off of the couch. Bruce was as steely-eyed as ever so there was no surprise there as he pulled the younger man away from the couch and across the floor, strong enough to include the unspoken 'rush-because-I'm-losing-my-confidence' comment but slow enough as to not trip his companion. Dick thought he was being pulled towards the desk but blinked in surprise again that night because as soon as the duo were standing in the center of the study, his mentor abruptly dropped his hand as if delaying dropping the hand hold had suddenly stung him out of nowhere. Confused, the younger man only tilted his head in confusion as Bruce turned both his eyes and head down towards the box he still held, as if he were acting a feline role.

"Look Bruce I don't know what you're-"

And Bruce Wayne conveniently shut Dick Grayson up once again by a certain series of events: he snapped the lid of the box back, let it rest in his right palm, stretched said hand out between the two of them, stuffed his left hand in his pocket to curl his fingertips into the inner soft material, closed his eyes and forced a smile onto his face.

There was a very sharp intake of breath that probably could have cut his head off given half the chance and the silence after lasted for a very long minute.

"…Bruce…I-I…"

Bruce took that stutter for what he assumed was reluctance. Though IF he had had his eyes open at that moment perhaps he would have realized, at the moment, it was more shock than anything. He covered up the nervousness, given the vulnerability of the moment, with a very deep sigh so he could replace the previous short-gathered mass of oxygen in his lungs.

"Please Dick…just…"

Finally though, Bruce opened his eyes as Dick stepped forward and clamped his hands around the perimeter of the base of the clamp box. A little voice in the back of his head was worried about if the box swayed slightly and the contents were lost to them. The circumference of his eyes definitely must have increased as he felt the edges of his eyelids minutely twitching and he was certain his jaw had fallen off in the last few seconds and landed…somewhere.

"Bruce…"

Bruce took a moment to stare at said twitching light blue eyes and his smile grew a bit bigger. His left hand quit leaving holes on the inside of his pockets and darted out to shut the box, his fingertips taking a miniscule breath of a moment to muse over the black velvet lining of the box. That probably hadn't been the best idea but the box was all he could find and he hadn't wanted one that shouted 'Bat' in its construction. The younger man would have picked up on that much too easily. Bruce took another breath beneath a shifting of weight on his feet and withdrew his hands, surrendering the box to his protégé.

"Now…hm, don't lose…"

"Iwon't!" Dick said, his hands tightening around the box.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Silence. Blink. Silence.

"It really was Alfred's idea."

"…"

"Have you been to see the Teen Titans lately?"

Bruce switched to Batman's tone. Get out. Get out of the conversation. Said vigilante/billionaire only relaxed when his protégé/partner relaxed his stance and their eyes met in silent agreement.

This was awk-weird to the extreme and they would do better to distract with vigilante talk. The younger man could even make a joke if he wanted to because if there was one thing neither was good with it was serious discussions. The dark reluctance and jovial kidding were just their own individual methods of avoidance. Different in means, but the same ends.

There was still a lot of tension but they seemed to be…'OK.'

Perhaps this was the beginning of Bruce's play or perhaps it had nothing to do with what did follow. Dick would never know for sure.

* * *

As with most typical stories of its type, the strangest events and happenings began with a normal day. A Thursday conveniently.

And IT was a normal day.

You just had to change the emphasis to 'was.'

The Bat-Clan was at a point where most would consider it a lull in their lives. Crime was down in Gotham City, the economy was great and therefore Wayne Enterprises was making more profits and jobs than ever before, no one on the team was pissed at one of the others, everyone was in a good mood, Damian was shaping up in school, Tim looked like he would be graduating soon with flying colors and with all sorts of rewards, Jason seemed to be mentally healing, Bruce wasn't at odds with anyone in the League and everything was just-good.

Naturally, like most stories, it WOULD happen upon this…day-of-all-days.

So, it was after a late evening of patrol when Batman stopped Nightwing from heading to the changing areas with the others, pushed a plastic file folder into his chest and told him to organize the newsprint sources inside from oldest to newest. Hey, he could be good and do as he was told; even if his stomach was growling for the late night treats he knew Alfred had waiting for everyone upstairs but Batman-knew-best. So he nodded and walked over to one of the desks where he could pull up a chair and spread the papers out. It was becoming habit these last few months as he'd been tooling around with many cases at the specific desk. All at Batman's 'requests' though so it wasn't too strange.

To his complete confusion all of the papers were about a strange but already long-ago solved case. In fact, if this was THAT case he should find-

"Ah! Got it!" he breathed as he pushed aside a few colorful photos and picked up an old newspaper with a large screaming header.

IRONY STRIKES FOR BATMAN AND ROBIN IN 'THE CASE WITH NO CRIME!'

He remembered this one. Holy misplaced currency Batman!

Though the biggest kicker of the case had been that in the end Bruce Wayne had had the missing $99.00 the entire time! Dick wondered if the store had ever given him the $1.00 in change they owed him. Though, now that he was looking over the papers of the case the confusion hit him.

Why was he looking over this case? Batman hadn't exactly given much of a task except to sort the newspaper articles in chronological order. This case had been closed since forever unless…maybe one of the four people involved was into something dangerous or deadly now?

No, it couldn't be. More than likely the people had to be elderly now if they were even still living at this point.

So that meant that this entire thing was way to keep him down in the cave while the others finished changing and went upstairs to claim the post-patrol Alfred snacks! Then again, Bruce might have done it to claim the snacks himself but turning to gaze around the cave Nightwing found that the Dark Knight was busy with a stack of schematics on a drawing table by the Bat-Computer. OK, he wanted to talk to him about something then. Dick sighed, really Bruce could have just said: "Stay behind; I need to talk to you." It wasn't that difficult to do! He didn't need to be this damn obscure!

Either way, Nightwing had said that he'd organize the newsprint, so he finally dove into the piles of cut out newspaper articles, located the dates and began organizing them. Of course Batman hadn't left it that easy. Some of the dates on the articles had been either partially or completely cut out so he had to reread some of the articles to deduce their dates, meaning he also had to think back to the case in question and remember in what order the information had been discovered or become available to the press. He even found a few false articles that his mentor had probably planted to throw him off. He threw those aside given they were useless. Thankfully, he was accustomed to the Bat's crazy random tests.

"Goodnight bro."

"Goodnight Tim."

"Goodnight Bruce."

"Hmm."

Still this wasn't particularly difficult, just tedious as it took a long time to cross reference a lot of the dates.

"Night."

"Goodnight Cass."

"Night."

"Hmm."

Batman was being way too obvious with this.

So something had to be wrong. Especially if he was making such a potentially confusing task so easy for him. This could have easily been more difficult.

"I'm leaving!"

"Sweet dreams Dami!"

"Father?"

"Hmm."

Hmm, another false article. He had just put the last of the cut newsprint into the 'fake' pile when he heard the echo of deliberate light footsteps spreading across the expansive stone of the cave and a quick kick stream of sudden rapid typing.

"System Alpha-3 HQ Lock"

Nightwing's masked eyes flew to the ceiling where the speaker system had announced one of the cave's security system locks. It wasn't exactly the one programmed for nuclear/atomic bombings or the destruction of reality itself but why would Batman be using the one for widespread plague? That was weird; unless the Dark Knight knew something no one else did which was all together possible. So, was there a plague? He glanced over to find that his mentor was approaching him, raising his hands to pull the cowl down. He quickly reached up to pull his own mask from his face as well. Apparently they were going to have this conversation as half vigilantes-half civilians. The mask went next to the pile of fake articles, the organized newsprint he straightened and put back into the plastic folder. He managed to just close it when Bruce's gloved hand came down on his right shoulder.

"What is it Bruce?"

"Finished?"

"Obviously, what is it?"

A sigh left Bruce's mouth, "I've become predictable lately haven't I?"

"I think even Arkham knows it."

"…I need to tell you something."

"Finally, you've been this way this way since the end of June after-"

"Yes," Bruce interrupted, "I know."

Dick finally placed his hands down on the desk and pushed himself to his feet, feeling Bruce's hand fall from his shoulder. Once standing he turned back towards his mentor and raised an eyebrow at the fact that Bruce's gaze seemed aligned with the floor. That was weird. Really weird.

"Then what is it?"

"It appears that…"

Well he was still himself if conversation was beyond his abilities!

"Did I cause you strategic brain damage or something?"

"No!" Bruce said more loudly than needed and finally realigned his gaze from the ground to his partner's eyes but said nothing more.

Now that the man's eyes were in view though, the younger man finally found IT and by IT he meant that there was something in Bruce's eyes that he did NOT recognize. That-kind of irritated him. Bruce-reading and Batman-reading was hard enough; he didn't like it when the detective threw in something new; especially when what he could read of it was so foreign to his understanding of Bruce Wayne or Batman that he had no point of reference! It was just plain irritating!

"Then what is it? I'm not asking-"

The rest of his sentence (whatever it was going to be) was cut off when the gloved hand that had previously perched on his shoulder flew up and clamped itself over his mouth.

"Stop talking."

Dick blinked twice. Stop talking? He wanted to hilariously twitch and mutter: 'Does not compute' -but something about that thing in Bruce's eyes was spreading throughout his gaze and it somehow made him WANT to shut up in favor of hearing something from Bruce instead.

"Come on," Bruce spoke so softly that Dick got the feeling that it was more of a request than an order. That was weird too.

Bruce's hand fell from his mouth and curled itself into his own hand before the detective was turning and pulling on his grasp to urge Dick into following him. The unusual thought in said acrobat's mind though was the fact that they were heading somewhere familiar though he wasn't sure why it was like Deja vu. The area was in a side 'wing' (for lack of a better term in the situation) of the Batcave that was cast in shadows. Not exactly Batman's shadows, they were more of a natural coating of night. There turned out to be an actual light there though because as soon as Dick passed into the line of shadows and cave light, a small speck of red glowed on the nearby wall. Turned out it was some kind of internal magnesium burning as a clank followed the glow. He didn't get to see what the source was exactly before his gaze was taken up by the chair he found revealed by the light.

Yes a chair or more precisely some utilitarian type of chair that looked more suited for prisoners, interrogation or even torture. He wasn't scared but…what the-?

He was about to ask but Bruce's gaze snapped back towards his eyes and that was another really weird thing happening at the moment because the detective in the older man had conditioned a slow moving gaze at all times of observation. The slow movement allowed the capture of more details in a scene-but that lesson was like first week training stuff and Dick didn't need to mentally review that basic right now. Besides, what the heck was with that gaze? Gosh, he had a million questions!

"Uh, Bruce is something going on?"

"Do you trust me?"

Dick blinked twice again and he didn't have to think it, it came out of his mouth instantly before he could stop it, "Why are you asking a stupid question? What is going on? Is something wrong? Is someone in danger? Are you? Am I? Is there really a plague spreading? Do we have it? Are we the only two who don't? I want answers!"

Bruce frowned in annoyance. Maybe this hadn't been the best course of action? Oh well either way he was screwed, or hell he was about to destroy both of their lives with this anyways!

"There's no plague, I just don't want any disturbances and no, no one is in any danger."

"Whew!"

"Do you trust me?" Bruce's gaze was back on his with that foreign thing again.

OK, no population destroying plague and no danger. That was good but still Dick frowned in his own show of annoyance.

"Again, I repeat: Why are you asking a stupid question?"

Bruce smirked and closed his eyes, "I guess I should expect it by now."

"Nah, really?" Dick said with a smile.

Bruce took a deep breath, dropped his protégé's hand then turned just as sharply to grasp the younger man by his shoulders. Before Dick could even breathe his next breath he was pushed down into the chair. He didn't see any torture tools nearby nor any kind of electricity inducing head ornaments so he didn't tense. Bruce obviously just really wanted him to pay attention for some reason that was important but not dangerous. Hmm, that was really weird too. The older man's hands dropped from his shoulders and intertwined themselves at the base of Bruce's stomach.

"OK you're acting really weird Bruce and it's not your normal weird."

"That's an oxymoron."

Was that a statement of fact or an insult and were they really going to debate language and literature at this point?

"OK, you have my full attention."

"Trust me," Bruce seemed to beg as his hands separated and reached for each arm of the chair.

His fingers bent below the armrests and retracted, each grasping the ends of restraining straps. Common sense kicked in as his eyes widened at the sight. He curled up immediately and got his feet beneath him, ready to jump for it and escape when his mentor dropped the restraining straps and stepped back. His gauntleted hands rose in front of him in the universal 'I'll-not-make-any-sudden-moves' gesture. That made the younger man freeze.

"Please, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then why the hell did you plan to restrain me!"

Bruce admittedly looked kind of sheepish and embarrassed at the direct comment, "Honestly, they're only there to stop you from punching me."

Dick relaxed and resettled himself in the chair, "You expect me to try to punch you right now?"

Actually, that didn't sound like too bad of an idea at the moment. Bruce WAS acting pretty dang weird.

"I expect you will when I tell you…"

"When you tell me what?"

"I'm not telling you unless you're restrained," the older man said, crossing his arms over his chest.

So, it was Batman's way or the highway? At least something was familiar and making sense at the moment. Drawing comfort from that fact alone he relaxed into the chair (why was the thing so uncomfortable?) took in a deep breath, reached out to lay his hands on the armrests above the restraint straps and then released the stored oxygen.

"OK. I trust you."

Bruce gulped very audibly, which was another weird thing that was messing with the younger man's thought process, dropped his arms to his sides and took a deep though more silent breath himself. He stepped forward and reached out towards his protégé's left arm first. He grabbed the restraint strap with one hand while the other rested softly on the blue striped gloved hand below it. He brought the strap over Dick's wrist and let one finger slide between the strap and the hand being restrained. After all, he didn't want to cut off the circulation. Bruce glanced up as the first hand was carefully restrained and studied his partner. There was a curiosity and alertness in the younger man's eyes but he saw no fear. Fear was the absolute last thing he wanted to see. If he saw as much as a single speck of fright in Dick's eyes he was going to lose all of the confidence that had been building up to this night. Bruce righted his attention and switched to restraining his protégé's other hand. He glanced up again after this and still saw no fear. Now it was just…desperate curiosity. For once, he wished the younger man could read his thoughts directly. It would make this so much easier.

Bruce straightened up and stared down at the younger man for a long minute. Here he was. He'd let Bruce strap him to a chair. Sure he could get out of it in less than 30 seconds if he was being tested but that wasn't what this was about. With a mental nod from the Bat inside his mind, Bruce turned slightly to a hole in the nearby stone wall and reached inside. Dick just continued to watch, absolutely confused by the turn of random, out-of-the-proverbial-blue events suddenly shaping his evening. Knowing Bruce he could be keeping anything from a bottle of wine to a high explosive inside the cave wall. He almost asked but was shocked silent at the object his mentor did pull from the wall. He saw a carved piece of wood, followed by a large piece of glass that grew smaller as it was retrieved from its hiding place. He knew then. It was an hourglass.

Bruce kept an hourglass in a crevice in one of the Batcave's many walls.

Strangely, that was the more normal part of the evening.

"An hourglass Bruce?"

"No, ten minutes."

Finally, half Batman and half Bruce Wayne, the detective turned revealing the entire object to Dick's observation. Indeed it was smaller than a normal hourglass, the wood was worn and damp, the glass was smudged in a few places though not cracked and to top off the weirdness of the situation it contained partially shiny, bright red sand.

Dick asked the obvious question, "Why?"

Instead of answering directly, Bruce reached for the right side of the back of the chair, pulled at a switch and out came a plate of the same thin steel that made up the chair. It bent forward and snapped down into place beside his partner much like a serving tray would. Bruce set the hourglass down on it but he hadn't turned the time keeper over for the sand to begin falling yet…

"Bruce, I'm really confused," Dick admitted, turning his now really worried eyes on his mentor.

"I know," Bruce's eyes made an escape and glued themselves to the cave floor beneath his feet.

"What's wrong because you've really got me worried and rightfully freaked?"

And hell he had a right to be worried at this point because what the heck was going on? None of this made any sense! He recalled that Bruce had done all of this because he had to talk to him but this was very much beyond what he had expected, even from someone as unpredictable as Bruce or Batman!

"Trust me."

"I do but that's not answering my question!"

Bruce took a deep breath and raised his eyes from the stone floor. Blue met Blue. He reached out, one hand sliding along the armrest next to his protégé's arm while his other hand grasped the side of the sand timer. With that he leaned forward into the companion's personal space as close as he dared. The younger man didn't attempt to lean away but he was definitely more confused now.

"I need to tell you…something but I need you not to speak. For ten minutes."

"Um I-"

"Give me your word that no matter what I say or do you will not speak or attempt to move for ten minutes."

Dick frowned. This all seemed a bit eh…extreme but if that's what Bruce wanted-

"OK."

"Swear it," Bruce ordered, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

Dick sighed in annoyance, "Fine. I swear Bruce that I will not speak or attempt to move, no matter what you say or do, for the next ten minutes."

That seemed to both satisfy the older man and help him relax as he finally turned the small time keeper over. Dick kept his eyes on said time piece for five seconds before Bruce straightening back up into a standing position recaptured his attention. OK, it wasn't that he didn't like where this was going but again it was…weird. Confused and worried was not a state of mind that he enjoyed.

Unfortunately, Bruce spent his first available two minutes of silence in…silence. Eventually though, he did begin speaking. Oh miracle of miracles!

"You remember four months ago. We had just stopped that last courier of particle lasers from reaching the Penguin and put him away…again. It was just us. You remember. Just the two of us. I'm not even certain of the why. You'd cracked one of your old puns again so maybe that had me feeling nostalgic or perhaps it was just the whole night making me feel so..." 

And with that Bruce began pacing as Dick just continued to stare and blink in confusion. Bruce pacing?

"…you remember we shared a joke. Hell, I don't even remember what it was now. I remember that we were both laughing though."

Yeah. Dick wanted to say as the memory danced behind his eyes. It had been one heck of a revelation that evening some months ago as it had been the first time in a long time that he had heard his mentor laugh and at one of HIS jokes. It had been a huge morale boost. But what did all of that mean for Bruce? Gosh, this was still confusing!

"It was still early in the evening and everyone else was busy. After that bust all of the criminals were hiding and we knew they would be lying low for the next few days. We ended up going over the supplies that the GCPD had taken inventory of in the courier but that task didn't take up much time so we patrolled for a short time."

Walk left. Turn around. Walk right. Gosh this man was making him dizzy. What was his angle?

"We stopped at Pearson's bakery. They were making a large order of blueberry and banana nut muffins. I remember that. Perhaps that was why we stopped there. I can't remember that part. You repeated your joke and we laughed again. Then you threw a mock punch, called me old and we started to spar."

Walk right. Turn around. Walk left.

"You were talking throughout as usual. For the most part I was tuning you out. I regret that. I should have been listening. Maybe I could have prepared myself for-"

For what? He wanted to ask but was reminded of his five-minute-ago oath that he would not speak or attempt to move and hey for once Bruce wanted to talk! Not that Dick hadn't spent most of his life listening to Bruce and the older man admittedly only listening to him in return a mere 15% of the conversations they had. Still, Bruce normally didn't speak this freely.

Walk left. Turn around. Walk right.

It wasn't an attempt to move, just a shifting of weight to stop his legs from falling asleep and a flexing of his hands to reassure himself of the wrist straps. What was this? He was still puzzling it out. Had something happened that night those months ago that Dick had missed? Bruce was still going after all. One silent step for every single syllable it seemed.

"-But maybe I couldn't have. Maybe no one really could've at all. It all was so sudden. I left an opening on my left side and you pinned me. Somehow we ended up hitting each other's craniums on the way down."

Oh yeah that had hurt. He remembered but- So? He hadn't spoken it aloud but the question seemed to emanate in the air between them anyways. How much time before he could start asking questions? He glanced over at the time piece at his side and estimated four minutes.

Walk right. Turn around. Walk left. Gosh! This was boring!

Definitely dizzy now. No doubt about it. He'd never seen Bruce move this much, not even when Batman was in the middle of a battle! He was tired of asking what was going on now. Hopefully he'd just be told straight out because this was getting very tiring.

"What I withheld from you that night was that one of those men we had turned over the GCPD from the Penguin's courier had actually gotten a hit on me with one of the particle weapons."

Eyes widening, Dick glanced down to his hands to contort his wrists and fingers to get out of the restraints so he could check on his mentor's health, apparently hidden injuries and then maybe yeah Bruce had been right he was going to punch him! Unfortunately before he could even literally move a finger, Bruce was kneeling before him and his gloved hands were clamped down over his wrists.

"I wasn't hurt. My armor prevented injury."

Oh whew! Relief spread through his body as he sighed, his entire being calming back down.

Bruce was staring down at his hands. Whatever he wanted to say it was obviously coming soon but-what? Why in any and all degree of sense did he care for this man? Why? Well, at least the dizzying pacing had stopped. That was a plus. Though, why was Bruce now leaning into his personal space?

The younger man almost voiced the question but a flexing of his mentor's fingers around his bound wrists made him remember that he still had a few minutes left before he could speak and boy was Bruce going to get an earful if he had to turn the tables and restrain HIM in this chair!

"I didn't tell you that it had done damage to the armor in my cowl."

YOU WERE PATROLING WITH COMPROMISED ARMOR! Dick wanted to shout it but the tightening of fingers on his wrists had shut him up again. How many times had Bruce yelled at Dick for that? They all had had their own experiences at the danger of their armor and gear being damaged or failing and they had been freaking scary times! Pieces of armor not thick enough, curling inwards to allow the passing of a bullet into skin, bracers failing and allowing bones to slip, even grapples failing to deploy at the right time or angle and their user plummeting quite a distance before a spare could be pulled out of a compartment or said user could be rescued by a overseeing partner.

"Thankfully, we didn't run into any further trouble that night."

Right. That was the important thing. Bruce hadn't been hurt. After their little play-fighting in which gravity had made them hit their foreheads together they had just returned home. The Bat had simply retreated into case studies for the night. Although….wait a minute! So that's why he hadn't ended up with a concussion. He would have if the armor in Bruce's cowl hadn't been damaged. So what though? He should be happy? It wouldn't have been his first concussion exactly if he had but-

"Dick. I'm going to go ahead and apologize for this. I'm sorry."

For hitting his head? OK…still confused! Apparently that was clear as crystal on his face because instead of keeping his eyes on his bound hands, the older man finally looked up and met his gaze.

"I'm not sure how to say this. I did what research I could but-"

What? Had hitting heads given Bruce some strategic brain damage like he had guessed earlier?

Bruce took another deep breath before opening his mouth again.

"I love you."

Yeah. He already knew that. Dick narrowed his eyes in an even more confused glare.

"You don't understand…I love you."

IT was back. That confusing thing that overtook Bruce's entire countenance. He tilted head to the right slightly. Just more confusion. He knew Bruce loved him. He loved Bruce. They all loved one another. Even if they weren't certain what their connections were, there was love there. Whatever it was, they never questioned or analyzed it-just accepted it. He loved his mentor. That was a fact so what the hell was Bruce getting at because he was about out of patience? A glance to his side reassured him that he would be free of his oath to begin his own interrogation (that HAD to be what this really was-it was the only explanation at this point) in about 60 seconds and he would finally get some clear answers from his partner!

The younger man's thought process blanked out when Bruce's hands left their place on his wrists and began following the blue stripes across his forearms and up his biceps. OK, normally this would be uncomfortable but for the years of experience it wasn't. It wasn't the first time Bruce had touched him or ran a hand over one of his limbs. Split skin, chemical spills, stitches, sore muscles, bruises, bone setting, nerve testing, etc.… and naturally all of that checking was a slow process. So no, he was not freaking out. It wasn't even when those hands cupped the sides of his head. It felt a little weird as the fingers of Bruce's right hand tangled in his hair but he'd had head wounds plenty of times before so he mentally shrugged off the worry about that touch. That was the strange thing though, he knew he didn't have any injuries at the moment and there was no way that this was just the Bat being paranoid or the billionaire being protective or plain Bruce just being careful. IT was something else.

Finally he got it. He got it when Bruce leaned forward even deeper into his personal space until he estimated there was only a whopping three inches between their faces. Um, no. No. That could not be it. Ha! Funny…

He tried to laugh at IT but Bruce obviously had other plans as he noticed his protégé's eyes widening and his mouth falling open. Bruce huffed a laugh beneath his breath and his eyelids relaxed to half stance as he got closer and his eyes kept growing in shock and disbelief but not -Bruce noted- in denial.

"You're-"

Dick shuddered once as his mentor released a deep breath over his lips. He forgot that he had previously tilted his head to the right in confusion a short while ago and that had lined up perfectly to-

"Beautiful…"

And finally...finally the older man came within an inch, closed his eyes and pressed their lips together.

Inside his mind, Bruce counted:

5…4…3…2…1…0

He pulled back, stood up, stepped back and raised a gloved hand to his lips. There! All done! He opened his eyes but looked to the time piece with red sand still falling.

10 seconds.

To hell with it! He was a bloody coward!

Even Batman feared the next few seconds so he jumped to the forefront of Bruce's mind and forced him to turn and walk rapidly towards the elevator. Perhaps he would have regretted leaving Dick strapped to that chair but the restraints were easy to get out of and…maybe he wasn't cowardly. After all, even if he was taking the elevator, someone mounting the steps could beat him upstairs. Then again, perhaps it was better if Dick didn't follow him. Bruce had no idea what would happen beyond this but-

He realized that even if Batman was leading at the moment the vigilante presence could not force the fingers away from his lips. Forget Batman, he had liked the kiss and he was going to enjoy it! He didn't care what Batman was yelling. He didn't care.

Back downstairs Dick Grayson found himself in a sort of…trance. He freed himself of the restraints, went back over to the desk he had previously been working at to scoop up his mask and then he left.

WHAT. THE. -!

* * *

Considering the dual identities of Gotham city's most prestigious family, perhaps the story may have started off with a typical range of events that would be peculiar for a great number of people but normal for them. Then again, the family had their days of normalcy as well that was equivalent with any other average person's day. The only difference being that their thoughts were far from the norm.

For Batman, or even Bruce Wayne, THIS was very far from normal. Bruce Wayne had a number of personalities he could rely on. If he had to contact underground communication rings 'Matches Malone' did his job. If he needed to project a great range of power to the public, his billionaire playboy Brucie image was on standby and if he just needed to scare someone's skin off of their own bones well-Batman was there.

The problem was that Bruce (Just Bruce for now-he had decided) was stuck somewhere he really couldn't identify. Sure the observation was more metaphorical than literal because he was not physically 'stuck' anywhere so to speak but was in a way.

And that-Bruce decided as he reached out and his hands wrapped around a swing-was the problem with nearly everything.

It wasn't not knowing what was what and which was which. It was about one thing being so many things at once that labels and classification were simply impossible actions or possibilities. As such, there were many things in his life that he had struggled to identify or at least base-classify that irritated him.

His normal work didn't help as it kicked his brain into over-analyzing and for all intents and purposes, he should NOT be over analyzing what had just occurred. Hadn't he done it out of nothing more than a simple 'feeling'?

And then there was the cliché, over-used premonition of mind over matter and logic over emotion. He wasn't blind to every incarnation portrayed by the media about him as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Everything from campy to practically undead heralded his reputation-not that he cared for them…though they did do their job…with the public and all.

Bruce turned in midair; hands still clamped on the swing, and straightened his form. In the back of his mind he felt an older version of himself reprimanding him for even touching the Trap.

For all of those wondering thoughts-YES. Mere minutes previously he had left himself vulnerable and he couldn't bring his body to move back towards the clock that lead down to his secret HQ. Strangely, Batman had not stepped to the front of his consciousness and demanded he stimulate his mind with a case or two. His darker vigilante side was quiet, as if the manifestation itself was contemplating its own perspective on the events. Hell, who wouldn't do so after something like that?

Bruce released his hold on the bar and dropped straight down. Just a victim of gravity. No worries, he had prepped the net a mere few minutes ago. Although he still wondered what had driven him from his departure from the cave and then his study only to end up in the aerial gym. And why in his right mind he decided that he would feel better exercising on the trapeze.

Well-Dick's trapeze actually.

Because even if he and his other protégés did some acrobatic practice for their training no one used the acrobat's trapeze…they'd stick with some training on the parallel bars and that was normally the extent. Bruce had been more acrobatic in his youth but those days were long gone, replaced by strong center-stances, rocket uppercuts, knock-bodies-across-the-room-punches and strength building sets. Still, he remembered using the trapeze when…he stopped the line of thought as he felt his back hit the net. Then there was the physics elastic-rebound and he just stopped by closing his eyes. He remembered that he hadn't even changed out of his suit but-

Had he actually done that?

It would help if he could stop smiling!

* * *

So perhaps Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, had learned that brooding on rooftops was normal for a family so abnormal but that wasn't his current location. He hadn't known where to go and the simple act of 'going in THAT random direction' ended up with him by the Gotham River. Now, he was in no way brooding at the moment. Just because he wasn't beaming at everything in sight didn't mean that he was depressed.

He wasn't depressed. He wasn't even sad.

OK, he would gladly be the first to confess that Bruce, and as an extension Batman, surprised him all of the time. He was confused, not sad-confused or angry-confused just confused.

Still decked up in full Nightwing-gear the hero parked and climbed out of the crime-fighting car he had been gifted, The Nightbird, which he was still claiming was 'new' even though he had received it on his birthday and said spring season, summer season and a fair bit of the autumn had passed as he recalled that the current day's date was October 3rd. He hadn't asked for it but-Bruce.

And that was all that he needed to say to THAT.

Now, he was closing the door with a release of breath that whiplashed and curtained his face. Gotham was unusually still warm this late in the year after the surprise Weather Wizard's attack the previous week that had been demolished by Batwoman . Gothamites weren't complaining though and Batman had said that the effects would dissipate over the remainder of October, though the cooler autumn temperatures would hit very fast and strict about a week or two into November.

Nightwing moved to the front of the Nightbird and perched himself on the hood. His booted feet kicked at a few strands of withered grass before he leaned back and allowed himself to fall. A quick movement of arms had his hands curled around the back of his head as he felt the slight drop of surface temperature as they landed against the blue sheened glass of the bird-shaped windshield. He looked up at the sky for stars knowing that he wouldn't be able to see any and released a hum of thought from his lips. He mashed them together as an action to the thought of just thinking hard and triggered the memory that made him shiver. His left hand slowly left the back of his head, his right hand readjusting for its partner's sudden absence, and landed on his forehead…just touching with the fingertips.

It had happened. It had.

OK, he had a million questions. Most of which he knew that he would never receive any answers for.

He just didn't know what to do about it. Bruce had left while there was still ten seconds on the damn hourglass! And an hourglass-Batman owned an hourglass!

One of those weird things that still surprised Dick after all of those years!

Though, even if he admitted that Bruce often surprised him…those surprises only happened often because well-darn it!

The League, their family, the media…everyone.

He didn't know what to do.

Dick let his gloved hand fall ever downward until his fingertips brushed over his lips.

And he felt the ghost of black gauntlets gently touch his shoulders.

* * *

Atop the GCPD HQ Commissioner Gordon was tapping his foot to an imaginary tune that had no origin as he slightly leaned against the lit Bat-signal.

Where was/were he/she/they?

James looked at his watch. It'd been 45 minutes! Hell, could he at least get one Bat tonight? Had they all decided to spontaneously go on vacations at the exact same time?

Ignoring the lack of a breeze in the warm night air he glanced down at the folder tucked beneath his arm and slightly shivered at the word printed across the top of the folder: PENALTY.

* * *

Back on the Gotham River Nightwing had scanned the area, deemed it safe and had removed his mask to rub at his eyes. His gloves only ended up making his eyes burn in irritation so he growled under his breath and reached for the catches that connected them to the sleeves of his uniform. It took a long half a minute but he had them off and he reached out to drop them on top of his mask. The three objects were hanging on the space indent made by the separation between the Nightbird's blue bird-shaped windshield and the surrounding structure of the vehicle. So, slightly secure for the time being.

Dick Grayson's bare fingers finally pressed themselves against his closed eyelids.

Gosh, he felt the blood vessels within bursting with the pressure already but he welcomed the distraction for the moment.

_"Beautiful…"_

NO. Just NO!

His hands left his eyes for the respected sides of his skull as he shook his head in even more irritation. He had to think about this!

-but, he was expected to be able to think right now?

He thought it was something about trust not about…being in love.

Oh! He had thought it! And it wouldn't go away!

He growled under his breath again, jumped from the hood of the Nightbird, snatched up his gloves and mask, threw himself back inside his vehicle and keyed in the order to return to his base.

"Home," he mumbled.

Home. New York. The Night-Tower. His penthouse.

He picked up the distant sound of sirens and tried to shut them out as the Nightbird started moving. Nothing to worry about.

More sirens.

Oh would Gotham SHUT UP!

Nightwing's non-gloved right hand smacked itself over his eyes. Before he always asked 'WHY?' Bruce did these things to him. Now he was asking 'HOW?' he did these things to him. It was like Batman and to an extent, Bruce, could envelop anyone with PMS or bipolar-ness. He certainly did it to him. Dick had always had their extensive history so he could Bruce-Read and Batman-Read fairly well but it was moves like…eh…THAT ONE that left him without any way to respond.

As for what had just occurred in the deep recesses of the Batcave? Well for all intents and purposes, his mind was attempting to repress it.

It had to go away!

He smacked a still bare hand over his mouth, slammed his eyes shut, began shaking and choked out a:

"Oh my god…"

* * *

**Friday**

**Saturday**

**Sunday**

**Monday-October 5th**

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Dick Grayson ignored the beating on his door and just turned in bed to stuff his face into his pillow. On Friday morning he had sent an e-mail to the museum, stating he was taking a week-long vacation. Other than that though, he had made no contact with anyone in his life; civilian or hero. Part of him was actually surprised though that no one had come looking for him beforehand. Then again, he could have been asleep. He'd been doing a lot of that over the last few days. He'd strangely been cleaning a lot as well. His place had never been so spotless.

Likewise, Nightwing had not been seen on patrol and he estimated that all of his 'teams' had just assumed he was either busy with 'Bat-business' in Gotham, occupied by something personal (which everyone was strangely respectful about) this week or simply lumped in with another group. It wouldn't have lasted forever though; someone was going to come looking eventually. He had half expected it to be someone from Gotham. Alfred, Tim or even…Bruce.

Barbara had called but he had shut down his communication web and even if the Night-Tower's communication web was open he hadn't been there lately.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

He groaned and reached up to bring the pillow out from under his face and then slammed it down over the back of his head. Face pressed into the sheets he got a lungful of the new fabric softener that had arrived via Alfred some…two weeks ago? Dick had assumed it was just-you know-Alfred! But-

Did Alfred know?

Did anyone in Gotham know?

Oh, he knew this was pathetic. Pandering around the house had never been in his personality. EVER!

…He just didn't know what to do…

"Dick, honey, are you OK? I know you're in there-I can you breathing!"

Donna. Damn.

"I can faze through this door ya know!"

Wally. Double Damn.

"DICK IF YOU DON'T FUCKING OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW I'LL-UGH!"

Roy? Oh no!

"We said to hold him back!"

Donna and Wally. Shouting in unison?

"He has a taser! That thing hurts!"

Garth? That was everyone then.

The Titans.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

BANG! THUMP!

"Roy, you didn't have to break the door."

"Yes I did!"

Dick did have a security system on his penthouse but for the life of him-he couldn't remember if he'd armed it or not. Worst of all the system was linked both to the Night-Tower and the Batcave back in Gotham City! Oh no-he was not ready to see Bruce again. Not at all!

He pulled himself from the bed and strode over to the desk where he had left his laptop sitting with the screen down. He opened it up, dismissed the messages left by Oracle and keyed in the override code for the security system which he had turned on apparently but had only turned it up to level 2. Bruce would be beside himself for that-

Dammit get out of his head!

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

His bedroom door rattled.

"We know you're in there Dick! Open the damn door!"

Roy was furious. No surprise there!

But-what would Titans think of…this?

He took a deep breath and marched over to the door prepared to-

And he lost the confidence that fluttered away in a nonexistent gale.

He took another deep breath, turned away from the door and leaned back against it. Sometime after Sunday he had shed Nightwing's ensemble and put on sweat pants and a blue t-shirt so the chill of the door against his back was minimal. His feet were bare though and his hair was probably a mess. He didn't even want to think about what his skin looked like at a glance.

"Roy, control yourself!"

Slap!

The rattling of the door came to a halt and then there was calm, soothing voice as a warm presence seemed to navigate its way through the door and soak into his back.

"I know you're there Dick. Please, what's wrong?"

"Donna?"

Eh, his voice had gone hoarse from disuse.

"Are you sick?"

"Tell him to-!"

"Shut up!"

Slap!

"Ow, Donna!"

He let a sandpaper chuckle escape his lips as he heard Wally whine.

"I heard that," Garth's calm voice melted into the air.

"We all did. Now, are you sick?"

Donna again.

"No. I'm-"

He wasn't going to say 'fine' but he had almost said 'healthy' but that wasn't really true either.

"Has something happened?"

"Yes!"

Oops. He had said that louder than he intended.

"How are you hurt and whose ass are we kicking?"

Roy again. Typical Roy Harper in all his badass glory.

"I'm not hurt."

"Physical or emotional-I don't care. Whose ass am I kicking? I need a target!"

"Dude, I can go get us some soda and pizza! We can pop in some horror movies to make fun of and then you could tell us what's wrong!"

He couldn't tell them. Couldn't tell them this. OK, he had never borrowed Batman's method of 'tell what's only necessary' because he trusted his team and friends. The only secrets he had kept were the ones essential to guarding his family's and friends' lives and on occasion when someone came to him in confidence with a personal problem. But this-what the hell was this classified as? As much as this was just between he and Bruce…if it happened then their family would have to know and of course he'd have to tell the Titans!

Oh-he was actually legitimately thinking about it!

His hands flew up, slapping the sides of his skull as his breathing grew deeper.

"Dick, sweetie, you have to tell us what's wrong."

He had to.

"You know any of us could knock this door down," Garth reminded him.

…

Dick stood up straight, turned back towards the door, reached out and clicked open the lock.

No one outside moved though and there was a distinct LACK of breathing. Everyone was holding their breaths then. But-he couldn't. The Titans would freak. Donna and Roy were likely to go after Bruce directly. Wally might be a safer choice, but being in the League he would run into Batman himself sooner or later.

He reached out and turned the knob-opening the door barely an inch.

"I'll talk to Garth."

"What?"

"-But?"

"Huh?"

"Me?"

He ducked behind the door, opening it enough along the way for one of them to squeeze through.

"…"

"Don't worry guys. You all go sit down in the living room. I got this."

Then why did Garth sound so winded?

The Atlantean slipped through the doorway, a mere second before he closed it with a quick click. Thankfully even Garth had come dressed as a civilian, sporting large black shoes, a pair of dark jeans, a red t-shirt and a blue jacket. Oh yeah, it was getting colder in New York now. Dick hadn't noticed. Even the scar that normally marred Tempest's face was gone. There was no visible cover-up so he assumed magic had had something to do with the man's clear visage. His dark hair was curled on the ends though-which was strange but he didn't want to question it.

"Wow, no offense. You look like death warmed over. Three or four times."

"Yeah, I kind of feel like it."

"OK, I'm all for pride in warriors standing tall through pain but you should sit down. Like now."

Surprisingly, he did as ordered and it was honestly freaking Garth out. He was never blind to the fact in the later years of the Titans that he had been far from the most popular of the group and not exactly the tightest of friends with his teammates either. The others had been pretty close so why was their leader deciding to confide in him? Yet, he had traversed the carpeted floor and settled down on the edge of his bed that was a bit wrinkled but otherwise perfectly made up-except for that lopsided pillow.

Surface dwellers were so weird.

Garth tried to draw on his memories of how their leader had handled problems like this with others and cross referenced it mentally with Donna's normally calm presence. Which he had trouble with because he was not nurturing like her and he was far from the 'big brother' or 'rock' of the group; as he was just the one normally looked over. Still, he braced himself, crossed the floor and knelt down in front of his friend, who was breathing very heavily. Though dressed, the man was a mess. Pale skin, ashy hair, dark crescents beneath his eyes that had gone glassy and though dressed-the sweatpants and t-shirt were not in good condition as they were wrinkled and stained even though he distantly picked up the scent of soap and cleaning detergent.

Weird. Surface dwellers.

Kneeling wasn't really his thing either as he was a Prince but-not here on the surface world. Besides, it didn't matter anyway. This was his friend after all. So he geared himself up and spoke as calmly as he could.

"What's happened?"

He glanced up and steeled himself. Garth really had been a sporadic choice. So many people took him for lame and seemed to forget he was a Prince and controlled a good 75% of the planet just below his father. Still, he reminded himself that the Atlantean was the best choice. Being a Prince he had good control of his emotions and actions. While it was true Dick didn't think that Wally would fly off the handle at the news, he was…unpredictable.

So he had chosen Garth.

"It was just last week…"

And he said it all. Even the few days he had spent shuffling around his penthouse doing nothing important but cleaning, eating little, sleeping sporadically, etc.…

At the end of it all Dick didn't know what expression Garth was wearing-just that he was silent. It didn't help that he himself was bent over, hair obstructing his vision as he tried to clear his thoughts while his hands curled into the comforter below him. Talking about things made them less scary right?

He didn't expect two arms to rise up and wrap themselves around his shoulders.

"Wow. I-hm."

They remained like that for a full minute before Dick pulled away and finally finished calming down. He spent thirty seconds on deep breathing and then-looked up.

His friend was wide eyed and staring at the ground. His arms had plopped back down onto the floor as he suddenly began blinking.

"Um…OK. Is this a thing? For surface dwellers? Because in my time here I haven't seen-"

"Normally, no."

A deep breath escaped Garth as he had a few jerking movements before he raised his head and stood up.

"So, you got a plan?"

"What?"

"You always have a plan."

"Not for this Garth! What do I do?"

"You're asking me?"

"Yes!"

"Aquaman's my father-not just my mentor so I can't relate. Shouldn't you be asking Roy about this?"

Dick's eyes fell into a mocking stare.

"Tell Roy about this? Do you have any idea what he'd do?"

"Kill the Bat?"

"Exactly."

"That's not the plan?"

"No!"

"So you don't want Batman dead."

"Of course not! Stop being ridiculous!"

"OK. So what do you want?"

"…"

"Dick?"

"I don't know. I'm still freaking out."

"Then find out."

"What?"

"OK, um…"

Garth cleared his throat, stood as straight as he could and raised his head proudly. Drawing on all the royal lessons he had received as a child he spoke clearly and calmly.

"You can't move on without finding out what your plan is for a response. So, open these blinds, take a shower, get a good meal in you, go outside for some exercise, answer the 200 or so messages everyone's been sending you and then-find out what you want. After that you can plan a response for your mentor. Whatever that may end up being."

"Garth?"

"Hmm?"

"What would you think if I actually-"

"So you are thinking about it then."

"AAAARRRRGGG!"

Dick slapped his hands over his eyes and fell backwards on the bed.

"Look do all of that- fix that pillow too it's bugging me-and then figure out what you want."

"But what would you think-"

"I think it's none of my business as long as he isn't locking you up somewhere…"

"…"

"What about the others? Donna's probably picked up some of this conversation you know."

"White noise generator in the hallway."

"What then why haven't I noticed-?"

"Bruce designed it specifically for Amazons-but not Atlanteans. Something about their magic vs. your biochemistry."

"Oh!"

"That one's in the dining room."

Garth blew out a breath, "Of course."

Dick chuckled beneath his breath, finally pulling his hands off of his face.

"What about the others? I could tell them if you want?"

"…"

"…"

"Only if you want to, but if you do wait until you're all back at Titans Tower."

"AKA: as far as possible from Gotham."

"Ding! Ding! We have a winner!"

Garth shook his head humorously.

"You surface dwellers are so…peculiar. But I like you! OK, I'll see what I can do."

With that Garth left as normally as could, only turning around once partially to wave a goodbye.

Uncertain of how long he laid there Dick did manage to pull himself off of the bed and up onto his own feet. Crossing the carpet again towards the windows he began tugging at the strings that kept his blinds close. As typical as it was, the light of the afternoon sun blinded him a fair amount of lasting seconds before he blinked away the after image of faded bars. He distantly heard someone put his penthouse door back in place and some chatter that he chose to ignore. He took another habitual deep breath and managed to not trip his way to the bathroom. Yay!

One look in the mirror made him all the more eager to jump into the shower and get started on the list Garth had given him. What the Atlantean had said to get the others to leave, he would never know but-if it worked-eh?

Open blinds

Take a shower

Get a good meal in

Go outside for some exercise

Answer everyone's messages

Find out what you want.

Three days later, he would walk into his living room after his first patrol since he had gotten that little hamster in his head running again, to find Bruce Wayne waiting for him.

* * *

Back in Gotham Bruce was huffing at a frowning Clark Kent through a webcam as he tried to ignore the conversation and focus on the paperwork before him. He had been throwing himself into work when a new business proposition from Lex Corp had something in its miscellaneous budget referred to as an OTC-that had some distant connection with ARM. After that black market connection in New York, he didn't plan to take chances with this one.

"Bruce, I'm just concerned."

"Clark, I'm at work-my board of directors would be beside themselves if they saw me using this line for personal business."

"It was the only way to reach you."

"If it gets you off the line; it's something that concerns Luthor."

"While that's alarming-I'm talking about your behavior at the Tower."

"…Consider it me being happy about being ahead of schedule."

"Right, like I believe that. There's just been this…light about you and the others are worried."

"I'm hanging up now."

"Hey wait-!"

Click!

Apparently if he wanted more info on this OTC-he'd have to do it via Wayne Enterprises. Business request.

Not his favorite thing to do-but reasonable nonetheless. He reached out to scoop up the tablet Clark had speaking with him through and brought up a blank e-mail template. Thankfully this had been so many solutions so many times he could manage the package request layout without even thinking. The only thing that ever varied was the location. Setting it in Gotham would be too wary, so he selected a high raise restaurant in Metropolis. Give Luthor a false sense of security and have Oracle watch the meeting.

He took the pause to think back over everything. He had Batwoman keeping an eye on Mrs. Fields. The night that the Commissioner had had some files on the project had been…that night. Kate had been the only one to show up after an hour. Maybe Bruce felt a bit bad about it but Batwoman was good at what she did and could handle keeping it on the low. Huntress and Oracle were away with the Birds of Prey. Batgirl was keeping Damian company at the Manor. So, they were probably training. Even Spoiler was throwing in effort-keeping an eye on the remnants of the Babylon and Enigma gangs. While the gangs were dissolved, they did have a number of loose runners. Robin was off with the Teen Titans in San Francisco for a meeting. Jason was-Jason. Alfred was at the Manor, keeping the place pristine and Leslie was overseeing construction on an extension of her clinic thanks to a recent donation.

And that was everyone but-

Hmm…

He hadn't sent Nightwing or Dick Grayson a message but knew everyone else had.

Besides, he had no intention of doing this over the phone or through text. This had to be face to face if he wanted it to be real. He was aware that his actions had probably set his partner off balance but again, even if was getting tedious in his mind; he wanted it to be real and there and forever. Or well! However long they had left as humans among gods and meta-humans.

Most of his colleagues and coworkers would call this ridiculous. And it did lack all logic.

He finished the e-mail package and sent it off, also requesting the date of October 20th. He doubted he'd get a meeting on that specific date but any time before December would be more…profitable.

With that he shut the tablet down and stood up, shifting back and forth on his feet for a few minutes. Content he reached across the desk, scooping up the fourth quarter performance reports, the tablet and a few fountain pens; placing them all into his briefcase gently. He closed and locked it with a held breath. Now, he shook out his right arm and reminded himself of his list.

October 8th. Step 6.

As much as they both didn't look forward to them. It was time they had a talk.

After calling the Manor to inform Alfred of his whereabouts he insisted the butler remain home (he could drive to NY himself), but Bruce was a bit worried. He had no intention of hiding this from his caretaker of all people though he was cautious if the Pennyworth Powers had already seen through him as they had before.

A quick goodbye to his secretary and Fox and Bruce was on the road headed for New York.

For all that Bruce had planned to take this slowly-and he had-it had been months since he came to this strange realization and it was time to act. The remainder of Gotham and beginning of New York passed by in a shower of faded lights and dusty buildings. The only thing the billionaire did habitually besides drive was constantly check his watch.

Check 1: 10:00am

Check 2: 10:09am

Check 3: 10:34am

Check 4: 11:00am

Check 5: 11:04am

Check 6: 11:10am

Check 7: 11:33am

Bruce growled and reprimanded himself. He would arrive in time. There was no reason to-

Check 8: 11:39am

Damn.

Nonetheless, he did arrive before noon but strangely found the penthouse empty. Bypassing the code for the security system was simple. He still had administrative access. It was proof that Dick still trusted him and he took pride in that as he glided into the living room. The talk had to happen today. So he had to wait. No problem.

Bruce removed his jacket, hanging it on a hook on the far wall. He considered his appearance for a moment before removing his tie as well and hanging it up over the jacket. This wasn't a business deal after all. With that thought he turned and walked towards the couch while he reached up to undo the buttons on his sleeves and fold them back behind his elbows. More casual-perhaps it would put his partner more at ease. Settling down he took note of the room. While being in Alfred's life tended to make you more tidy than usual, the spotless and clean aura of the room seemed a bit unusual. Far from unwelcome-but unusual. The curtains and blinds were open to let in the sunlight, which was lying in slanted boards across the floor, the walls were free of any stray marks or dust, the couch and loveseat smelled of lavender, the bookshelves were polished and gleaming, the low coffee table and couch side table shined with a recent application of something citrus scented, the media wall had all the wires to the television and media players tacked together along the baseboards and even the door to the bathroom had received a new coat of paint recently.

Well then-

He was debating on looking over the rest of the place and possibly slipping into the transporter to visit the Night-Tower when-

"B-Bruce?"

Dark blue eyes turned around and landed on the thin form of an acrobat at the entrance of the hallway.

"Dick, hello."

The younger man's eyes were wide, his face open, his hands clasped together in front of his chest, his breath short and knees far from straight.

"Uh, hi."

Bruce cleared his throat, "We need to talk."

Apparently those were some kind of trigger words because Dick suddenly relaxed. His arms fell to his sides, he straightened his posture and his face fell into a neutral smile. But strangely it looked genuine. Still, Bruce was not taking any chances here. He gestured to the far end of the couch which he smiled sheepishly at. Dick bypassed the offered spot though and sat in the middle beside his mentor.

OK. Well-it was his couch.

"Hi."

He sounded a little breathless still despite the outward appearance.

"We already did that."

"True. So, what's up?"

"You know."

Dick took a deep breath as his once happy smile turned into a frown. Ah, so it had been a defense mechanism!

"OK."

"You don't have to say anything. My only purpose here is to prove that I mean this."

Bruce turned the full power of his eyes onto his partner's and reached out to brush a hand over his arm. While he didn't jerk away he did tense up, but a little flexing of Bruce's fingers against a sore muscle from one of his sporadic day patrols was…nice. He had just gotten in and pulled on a t-shirt and jeans so his lower arms were bare-free to be touched.

"What do you want from me Bruce?"

"I thought it was obvious."

The younger man felt his face reddening.

"Listen, I won't keep you long but-I need you to know that I want this. Want you."

Dick gulped.

"Do I frighten you?"

A glance to the side and then the ground before a shake of the head.

"Dick…"

He couldn't help it, his eyes shot up and met the dark blue like bullets hitting together in midair.

He cursed the desire to want to fall into them like he was a little kid giggling over the fluff of a new warm fleece comforter.

"This is awkward," Dick murmured.

"Only if you want it to be."

The younger man pulled his gaze away and over to the bars of light on the carpet.

"No Bruce. This IS awkward. No matter what."

"…It had to happen."

"Yeah. I know."

Silence reigned for a full 15 seconds.

Finally Bruce got to the point.

"Look I realized this months ago."

"What?"

Light blue eyes stared back in shock.

"Listen! I don't know why this has happened-"

"Are you sure it isn't brain damage?"

"Yes, I'm positive it's not brain damage. I already had a CAT scan. Now, stop interrupting. I realized this long ago and I've done everything I can to logic it away, but it's not working."

The younger man lowered his eyes in a disbelief glare as he asked, "And did you consider not saying or doing anything at all?"

"Yes, but my research shows that it always proves disastrous. So NOT saying anything was only a countdown to conflict."

"This isn't a conflict?"

Bruce shook his head before he said, "Not for me. I know what I feel and I know what I want."

Taking the initiative Bruce slid his fingers up his partner's bicep-eliciting a shiver of pleasure from the younger man. Feeling bold, he leaned in and pressed his lips against Dick's cheek.

"I love you and I want you. Remember that."

OK, his blush was definitely down his neck now!

Dick shot off of the couch and wrapped his arms around himself.

"This is too much Bruce," he breathed shakily.

"I assumed it would be. I'll be on my way then but don't relax. I have no intention of letting this go because I want it and I want it to be real."

"Please leave."

"Very well."

Dick picked up the sound of Bruce retrieving his jacket and then going to the door. He even heard it open once before the billionaire had to throw out the last words of the conversation.

"I love you."

Damn!

Even pushed over his limits Dick didn't let himself get back to where he had been; he spent the remainder of the day digesting his mentor's words and keeping a hand where Bruce had pressed a kiss to his heated cheek.

As for the remainder of October he spent his time fighting crime solely in New York City, avoiding the Justice Society of America and Outsiders while simultaneously still responding to the messages his days of solitary confinement had built up.

He had to…

On the final day he fell to his knees before the chill of his refrigerator and admitted that he needed help with this.

* * *

Climbing up to a balcony at Wayne Manor late at night was not a new experience for Dick Grayson (far from it) but this time it wasn't to sneak a worried glance into Damian's room or a need to talk with Tim. In fact, both of their rooms were dark and quiet from what he had heard was a long day for the two.

Three specific lights were on though, the front foyer, the gym and Alfred's room. The front foyer light was small and stayed on nearly all of the time, he had easily picked up the sounds of Bruce working out in the gym and he could spot the thin shadow that was Alfred Pennyworth moving around. It was this room he wanted. So, Dick pulled himself up over the balcony banister and took a deep breath. He knew Alfred had already heard him but was apparently going to give him the time to knock properly. Not that that he was entering the house properly but-he wanted to avoid Bruce. He reached out and knocked on the wooden frame that lined the blinded and curtained windows of the doorways.

He had only to wait a mere five seconds before the doors were pulled in and pushed out sideways and there in all possible butler-like glory was Alfred.

"Nightwing? Won't you come in Sir?"

The young man nodded and stepped inside, the butler closing the doors behind him and checking the security of the curtains and blinds. Once assured the two were out of sight, they stepped away from the door and Nightwing reached up to remove his mask.

"Shall I admit that I was expecting you Master Dick?"

Dick smiled, "It doesn't surprise me Alfred. You really are the best of us."

The butler, still suited up despite the late hour, motioned to the far end of the room where a tea set was perched delicately atop a golden serving tray on a small, two-seat, wooden garden table.

"Would you join me for some tea?"

"Can anyone deny your tea?"

"Master Bruce and Master Tim do a right fair job of it in favor of coffee," Alfred informed his charge as the duo made their way over and sat at the small serving table.

"I assume you're here to speak to me about something important."

"Well, yes. I am," Dick breathed as he was handed a steaming cup of peach, hoping that there were no drugs in the thing that would force him to oversleep.

"Something concerning Master Bruce I believe?" the butler said before he took a drink from his own cup.

The younger man finally inhaled a bit of the warm, dark amber hued liquid, feeling a bit of a spice hit his tongue before he swallowed.

"Well, yes. It does mainly concern Bruce and the rest concerns well-everyone else. I didn't know who else to talk to about this."

"So, something you couldn't tell Master Bruce, Miss Gordon or Mr. Kent I deduce."

"Uh, yeah."

He didn't even want to think about the possible reactions from Barbara or Clark. Never mind meeting this head on with Bruce himself. Which he was obviously going to have to do soon anyways-even if he didn't want to.

"Alright, then what is troubling you sir?"

"Alfred, you love Bruce. No matter what-right?"

"Of course I do."

Great! Now Alfred looked horribly confused and his voice grew suddenly sharp.

"Has he done something I do not know about that I need to know of?"

Dick swallowed another quick mouthful of tea, "Maybe."

"Master Dick?"

Great there was the Alfred-sternness no one was immune to!

"Well, it was the 3rd; of this month, we had just come back from a patrol when Bruce gave me this…folder…"

And that's how the next ten minutes went, Dick relaying the story to the butler. Surprisingly, or not-surprisingly the elderly man didn't raise an eyebrow at any point of the story. In fact, he smiled amusingly at the fact that Bruce had strapped he to a chair. It was only when the younger man finished the tale that Alfred had any reaction.

"…then he leaned in and…kissed me."

That's what made the normally stoic butler stop mid-movement, falter and spill a few drops of tea onto the clean table top before he could right himself, though he did recover quickly.

"Alfred?"

"He kissed you?"

"After he said he loved me."

The butler took a very uncharacteristically deep breath, "Bruce, he said he loved you and then kissed you?"

"Yes," Dick admitted and stared down into the deep amber liquid but didn't move to take another drink, biting his lip instead.

He didn't want to look up at the confused/shocked look that Alfred was wearing. It was just too much. It wasn't like he was expecting his elderly caretaker to take it in stride but that damn silence was killing him.

Because he was just quiet.

Freaking just-quiet!

"I'm going to guess that these…advances were more than innocent 'platonic acts' of affection?"

Now that Dick thought back on it, it wasn't like his mentor had been violent or forceful. The kiss hadn't been ravishing to a high degree. It had been soft, warm and comforting. Even if it meant more than the affection that normally existed between the two of them, it wasn't a bad kiss. Bruce hadn't been forcing the kiss on him. The restraints had stopped Dick from punching the older man in surprise but Bruce had specifically not tightened them to hold his partner in place. If there had been any danger, he could have easily slipped his hands out of the straps and took to action.

"Yeah, it meant more," Dick whispered and forced himself to glance up and over at the butler.

Alfred's lips were drawn into a tight line and he was obviously thinking-hard.

"Who have you told?"

"Just you and Garth. I have a feeling he's told the Titans something though. Just not all of it."

"The League," the butler spoke up with a smirk that was half sad and half amused.

"Bruce told the League!" Dick nearly jumped up out of his seat in shock.

It was only when Alfred reached out and curled a hand over his arm that he managed to calm down a smidgen.

"No, but Mr. Kent has reported to me that 'Batman' is acting differently during meetings and missions."

Dick put down his tea cup and buried his face into his hands before something about the sentence made him raise his head in curiosity. He probably didn't need to ask out loud…

"Yes Master Dick, he reports that 'Batman' seems-happy."

"You're kidding me right? That kiss was like five-seconds at the beginning of this month. Might as well be a month ago!"

Alfred frowned again and cleared his throat, retracting his hand from his charge's arm.

"It actually has been quite refreshing here to see Master Bruce achieve such a…zenith."

He felt his shoulders slump, "So, it really made him happy?"

"I assume so but Master Dick, he really-?"

"Yes."

Alfred took another deep breath and cupped his hands together before raising them to his chin.

"Well, what do you think of it?"

The young man shook his head near violently as he promptly freaked out, "I don't know what to think Alfred! I'm confused beyond any confusion that I've ever felt confused about before! On no, look what he's doing to me!"

"Calm down," the butler encouraged lowly, reaching over to curl a hand over his charge's arm once again.

"I needed to talk to someone."

"Well alright, when he did-kiss you, what did you feel?"

"Shock."

"Were you frightened?"

"I've never been scared of Bruce or Batman."

"Master Dick," Alfred said sharply but lowly, "I need assurance that he didn't-"

"Oh, no! No Alfred. He wasn't forceful or demanding…it was just a quick, sweet kiss."

The elderly butler raised a sudden interested eyebrow, "Sweet?"

The blush spread all the way to his chest, Dick knew it. Alfred wouldn't have needed to point it out; his brain had skipped the moment he had realized he had said 'sweet'. Then again, there was no harm in assuring his old caretaker that Bruce hadn't overstepped any boundaries that would lead to physical…harm or discomfort.

"He didn't force anything."

"Yet he strapped you to a chair, restraining your wrists?"

"He said he didn't want me to punch him and they weren't really restraining, I could have gotten out of them and my legs were free if I suddenly needed to fight him off."

"So when he kissed you, you didn't slip your hands free and punch him?"

"Well, no I was too shocked."

"Did you want him to stop?"

"I don't know!" Dick shouted as he quickly folded his arms on the table in front of him and buried his face in them, "I'm so confused Alfred."

"Why specifically Master Dick? I believe it's quite clear what he feels for you."

He slowly raised his head to stare at the butler in shock.

"He-he really does love me? Like, romantic love?"

"I believe that is quite clear."

"What do you think about it Alfred?"

The butler glanced to the side at the wall for six long seconds before speaking, "I am…surprised, somewhat happy, a little angry, extremely worried and confused as well."

"He didn't hurt me," Dick protested.

"You would lie to me for him and we all know it," the butler said with a scoff.

His face burned in anger instead of embarrassment for once, "I'm not lying!"

"I know dear boy, I'm simply pointing out that even now-after he's shocked you beyond belief-your loyalty to him remains."

That- made Dick pale and reach for his tea again. It was surprisingly still quite warm. What was Alfred's secret with it? Perhaps there was a hidden heating plate cleverly built into this table?

Or maybe Alfred had invisible heat vision! Who knew?

"So, why are you here this evening Master Dick? Are you looking for a second reassurance of Master Bruce's feelings towards you? Are you here for my approval? Or…are you here to figure out what you feel in return?"

"I-I guess I am…all of the above. It's not that I don't trust Bruce but you have a neutral view that I can't see. Secondly, yes in a way I'd like your approval. I wouldn't want to be the reason you walk away from Bruce. He needs you."

"So I leaving in light of you…returning his affections?"

"I never wanted to disappoint you."

"You never have young master and if you choose to pursue a-relationship with Master Bruce-it will be your choice. I cannot choose for you. If you truly are in love with one another then my opinion should not matter. No one else's should either."

"Alfred?"

"Hmm?"

"You're the greatest."

The butler smiled and reached over to pat his charge on his shoulder. "Why thank you. Tell me though; do you have romantic feelings for him?"

"I know I love him."

"-but it is not enough?"

"I've loved Bruce since the first day we met-but as a guardian, a mentor, a role model, a hero, a partner and…a best friend."

"If that is what you feel-then you should tell him outright. He may enjoy the feeling now, but hiding the truth will only hurt him."

"That's just it Alfred. I'm not sure that's what I feel. Well OK, I do feel all of that but…" he trailed off and bit his lower lip in thought of how to phrase it.

"You feel that there might be something else."

"No, I KNOW there's something else I just-"

"You don't know what it is?"

Dick sighed, "Exactly. I mean, what if it is romantic-love? Shouldn't I take the chance? Then again, what if it's not? What if it's just appreciation for everything he's done for me?"

"I believe if it was Master Dick, then you would already know it. For every type of love you hold for him, they all have a label-correct? You have identified them?"

"Yes?"

"Then this feeling is new?"

"Uh-huh."

"It appears to me that if this new feeling was any of those things then it would not-in fact- be 'new'."

"So, it really could be it?"

"I'm not a professional young master but if you wish to discover what this feeling is then indeed you must take the chance."

"It's been nearly a month since he kissed me and told me he loved me."

"Has a month been long enough?"

He glanced down and took an extremely long drink of his tea, letting the spices burst against his tongue thinking…thinking hard.

He did love him. He did. He'd give him anything he could.

He needed to tell Bruce. Bruce needed to know. Perhaps the move in mind was feverous but he'd been flinging himself at the ground since he was a toddler without a net.

Time to make a move and this would be the perfect time.

Putting the cup down Dick thanked Alfred and stood up to leave.

"Any messages for Master Bruce?" Alfred inquired as Nightwing reapplied his mask to his face and took a step towards the balcony doorway.

"Tell him to meet me at Otto Drexel's Penthouse at midnight. It's time we really talked-or something like that."

* * *

Batman grappled up the side of a very reminiscent building at midnight on October 30th.

Reminiscent as Otto Drexel had owned the Cleopatra necklace. It had been one of their first missions together and their first battle against the Joker of all villains. Mr. Drexel was long dead though (killed years ago by a skin disease) and his penthouse was run-down. It wasn't so broken as to be unstable but enough that no one wanted to enter the place. Hell, there were even some haunting ghost and demon stories about the penthouse. As he didn't make consistent trips back to the place, the detective couldn't exactly say the rumors were false. After all, he had spent too many years exchanging punches with magic, gods and the undead for him to discount anything.

Still, shacking up old skeletons was not his purpose here.

Alfred had delivered the message to him in the gym a mere hour ago.

He got it. He did. Nightwing…Dick thought he might need some time and perhaps he needed some time as well. After all, it would have been foolish to take the step of revealing…the truth…to Dick and not expect something like this to occur. If anything happened…it would be the younger man's choice. Perhaps the Bat was a bit possessive of what he perceived was HIS but he found that once he started caring for another-it was a damn drug! He couldn't fight the addiction to ensure that his family was safe.

Dick Grayson…was always the core of that.

Bruce remembered the kidnappings and ransoms when Dick had been but a child. Even if it HAD been inconvenient, Batman had still turned himself over to the gangsters, had played the Joker's rules and had gambled with others' lives. All for the boy. All for the one who had meant the world-meant everything to him!

_"The missing records!"_

_"He had it hidden in the table leg. Looks like your number's up, Hill."_

_"Ah!"_

_"Not yet it isn't! One move and I'll blow this brat's head off!"_

_"Don't worry about me Batman!"_

_"Sorry Robin. You're worth much more to me than those records-Okay, Hill. You win!"_

He had been so terribly lonely before that-hadn't he?

Batman took a deep breath that no one would have been able to see and finally pushed open the door to the rooftop entrance. (Wouldn't Alfred be so proud of him? He was using a door!) He was early-as usual. So apparently it was true that he needed some of his own time to himself. That was fine, even if the Dark Knight had secretly hoped that his squire might have acted differently and would have been waiting for him. Still, it wasn't fair to ask the younger man to be someone he was not and that included all the little habits, traits and quirks that he was made of.

The detective filled his time by scanning the penthouse and thinking.

A customized sofa that had once been revered as golden now sat as depressed, faded sunshine in the corner. He wondered who technically owned the place now. As far as he knew Otto Drexel had had no younger family members to inherit the place. A fair guess would be that the city council had just up and forgotten it when the property deed fell into their laps. Maybe Bruce Wayne could see to purchasing it?

All in all the large floor of the penthouse was not much more than a sitting room, though the couch was the only furniture left save for a pile of wood and cloth by the locked stairwell that could have been a chair if he cared enough to examine the pieces. The case that had held the Cleopatra necklace all of those years ago was gone as well and although no trace of the steel and iron case remained on the one non-windowed wall, there were specks of glass shining off of the light from outside. Yes light, for across the street a pizzeria's sign was giving quite a neon glow to the area through the large windows.

A presence!

"I'd say 'Oh how the years go by' but that'd be rather trite."

Batman turned slowly and spied the very being he had been thinking of earlier, standing on the windowsill of one of the larger bay windows.

"You're late," Batman pointed out.

Nightwing shrugged before jumping down into the room and landing on his feet lightly.

"Hey I'm early for me."

"True."

And just like those damn moments in stories, this one was all too realistic. The cliché uncomfortable silence descended between them settling itself between the shadows of the room and the invading neon red and green lights outside.

Like in the past, Batman wasn't going to start the conversation. He was never good at words and he consented in this to leave the job to the professional before him.

"Well, hi," the younger man started uneasily.

Batman said nothing and that made him sigh. This was not going to be easy. So, Nightwing leaned back against the still open window and pressed his lips together tightly in thought. This…couldn't go the same way as their other conversations or this…this thing between them…would also go nowhere. It would fall into the pattern of getting along, then a crisis, Bruce keeping a secret, the liar revealed and then disbanding. It was one stupid, stupid, STUPID pattern!

He had to say something that would start the conversation, would get Bruce Wayne/Batman to talk, would get rid of the uncomfortable silence and get Bruce to answer some questions. Feeling the tall building's slight wind pick at the back of his neck Nightwing closed his eyes, took a deep breath and spoke:

"I love you."

And the result WAS surprising. He suddenly felt a great weight crushing him! His middle back was pinched by the edge of the window behind him and his upper torso was bent slightly outside of the window. His eyes opened as his hands scrambled to hold to the edges of a familiar warm cloak over wide shoulders. Bruce-Batman was pressed up against him.

And that was- a little much!

More than he had expected as the edge of Batman's cowl was pressing into the side of his cheek as strong arms clamped around his lower back. OK, he had not been expecting that! Nor did he know that Bruce could move that fast!

"Batman," he gasped and pressed at the shoulders beneath his hands.

He did not let go. OK then…Nightwing supposed he could work with this. Somehow. He did manage to maneuver enough that his mid-back was no longer being pinched by the windowsill even if he was still somewhat leaning outside of the building.

"Mean it," Batman ordered into his ear.

Nightwing bit his lip. Oh no! Nothing like THAT was going to happen now! No way! Frowning, he pushed at the shoulders beneath his hands again and surprisingly managed about two inches of space.

Who-Ra!

"Batman. I love you, you know that."

And THAT seemed to act as a literal slap in the face for the Dark Knight because he promptly let go of him and retreated a good ten steps back.

Stupid. Stupid! STUPID! Why the hell had he done that! In Bruce's mind it was like Batman was lecturing him. If he had approached it logically from the beginning, he would have realized that his words were NOT confessions of…romantic affection.

Damn!

And he was ashamed to admit that there was an urge to release moisture from his eyes in light of the revelation.

"I see," he barked instead.

Get out. Get away. Go back to the cave. Reset mental and emotional barriers. Time would set them back onto a 'workable relationship' as soon as the next crisis hit and finished taking a bloody lawn mower over everyone's chest! After all, that's how this worked and how it would continue to work.

-but then that begged the question: was it simply routine or insanity?

Nightwing almost called out: 'Bruce/Batman wait!'-except that that felt like a very cliché action and really felt like the wrong thing to say. After all he was talking to Batman. Even an abandoned building was too possibly public to go mask-less as this part of Gotham was still very populate. If Dick Grayson was going to get anything through to Bruce Wayne it had to be strained through both Nightwing and Batman to reach the stubborn man beneath the cowl.

And there in lay the problem. It seemed that there was only one way to get to the brooding billionaire.

"You know, if at any point in time you wanted to kiss me-I'd let you."

That got a bit of the hidden man's attention as the bat-figure did stop making his way to the balcony door. Unfortunately, he was still turned away. Though, the method of extreme confessions and words did seem to be making it through the vigilante-covers to the people beneath the masks.

He continued, "I would have let you before. I'd let you now. Hell, I'd let you anytime beyond this moment."

That did get the lenses of the Bat turned back towards him. Nightwing tried to imagine the dark blue eyes beneath them-but it always resulted in a double-edged sword strike. He couldn't help it! He'd seen the man for far too long as his mentor and closest companion. Unlike most of those friend romance stories he had read in the past he now had to look back and give the characters props- crossing the line from friend to more-than-friend when you're already so close that you'd give your life for the other, was very difficult.

And that-that was the answer to the question everyone had an opinion of:

What were Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson to each other?

It was simple…

So simple and still so complex.

"If you want to, go ahead; I won't stop you."

It was a really strange night when Batman of all people was jumping at a moment's notice, though perhaps not entirely NOT Bruce Wayne when he was presented with an enriching opportunity. After all, in the event's own perverted way, who turned away someone who offered themselves?

It was still a surprise for the younger man though when Batman stomped forward, jerked him away from the window and then pressed him against the side wall. In the back of Dick's mind he was kind of yelling-or maybe it was Nightwing yelling.

Because why the hell was he letting Bruce/Batman manhandle him?

No! Not happening!

With that, he hooked a foot behind Batman's ankle and pressed forward. Ugh! If only the movement hadn't consequently pressed their chests together-symbol to symbol as his hand struggled for some placement to apply back-off pressure. Nightwing managed to get enough free space to slide away from his mentor.

"You said-"

"No, I said-ugh never mind! That's not the point!"

Batman took a step towards the window.

Nightwing sighed. OK, no win situation. He had to fold a bit more if he wanted to keep the older man in conversation-which he did. But why did it have to be this?

"Fine," he grumbled before walking forward and spreading his arms out in invitation.

It was better admittedly as Batman was now NOT tackling him against the nearest wall but nevertheless the detective did reach out to pull the younger man to him. Gosh when had the Dark Knight gone from 'the-perfect-portrait-of-unapproachableness' to a freaking 'cuddle-bunny'?

Nightwing mentally groaned. This could only happen to him!

He bet Superman didn't have to put up with this!

Then again if it was Superman in this moment, in his place, he would probably end up with a kryptonite dagger in the back or through the eye. Ouch!

…Note to self: …Don't give Bruce ideas.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to talk again but instead of talking about those oh-so-important issues that surrounded the situation he cursed his vocal chords as his words fell back into their old pattern of using attempts at humor to avoid an emotional moment.

"Are you sure you're the same dark, broody figure I know and love?"

Well OK, it was meant to be a fall back into familiar humor to avoid emotional moments but he'd just had to tack on the ending of that sentence! Although, on some level, perhaps that was a good thing because now he didn't have to speak at all! Bruce-err Batman was pressing their lips together. No, the younger man did not feel any shame in it. Sure, it was still weird but he guessed that perhaps he might have adapted to it sort-of maybe…

How long had they been here? Half an hour? And he was what-two sentences into everything he needed to say?

Hm, maybe this was Batman's strategy though? It certainly was a perfect example of why the two of them could not have any conversations on a normal basis. Bruce had the patience to out-wait a rock and Dick had the ability to out-talk a teen-message-board. Either way, it was apparently not to going to be Batman that ended the kiss so once again, Nightwing took up the job of pulling back. In a way he was sorry as he had never kissed back and wouldn't kiss back until they had this damn talk and he worked out these…emotions!

"Look can you please just listen for a minute?" he begged but saw all too well that Batman was building walls even as they were still embracing.

Honestly, it didn't seem like it would matter if Nightwing pointed out how uncomfortable this was making him. As for the talking portion of this…talk-it looked like he was going to have to fall back on his first plan: exasperated confessions!

"This is the scary part B…I'd let you do anything."

The words acted as another slap to the face as Batman released his hold on Nightwing's waist, pushed him away and then stepped back, aligning his gaze behind the lenses of his cowl to the floor. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't even look at him.

"If you wanted to kiss me, kill me or just have your way with me. I'd let you," he continued, finding himself back in the original position he had had by the window he had entered the penthouse through.

Talk about back to square one, even if Batman was technically standing closer than he had been at first.

Unfortunately, behind the mask, Dick had turned his eyes towards the side of the window where he could make out the seal that had long ago decayed. So, he didn't see his mentor jerk up straight in shock from the statement or practically fall over his own feet as he attempted to take a step forward. Hell, even Batman felt that the lenses in his cowl had widened in shock along with his eyes.

Because Dick Grayson would if Bruce Wayne wanted it. That was scary-beyond belief scary. Creepy. Repulsive. Submissive. Dark. Gothic. Borderline suicidal.

Had they adopted The Addams Family moniker somewhere? And if they had, when had it happened?

"I have questions," Nightwing said, finally looking up at his mentor who had managed a bit more semblance of control.

The Dark Knight nodded and took a single step back-not to run-but for enough of a back draft wind so that his cape fell in front of him to hide his symbol and suit from sight. Even now it wasn't that the statements had to be extreme after this moment, somehow they got through the cowl and to Bruce. Now, unlike popular belief Bruce was not nervous of what would/could occur between the two of them. If something happened, they would figure it out. They both believed that. If nothing happened, they would settle into a state of at least not-being-at-each-other's-throats. That worked.

"When did you uh…" Nightwing trailed off.

"June."

"OK and when did you realize it was more than…?"

"June."

"And it's…?"

"Real."

"OK, what is it you want from this?"

"You."

OK, Batman was on a roll with his one word answers! The younger man took a deep breath and fought off his blush. New strategy. He needed a new strategy!

…why could he not think of one!

"Why do you- I mean-what is-ugh!"

He slapped a hand over the thin skin of his forehead, letting himself enjoy the sting for a few mere moments as his eyes closed. He released a sigh of air, let his hand slide down the contours of his face before it dropped down to hang by his waist and reopened his eyes. Batman was standing stock still and even if they were covered by the lenses of the cowl Nightwing knew those dark blue eyes were aimed at him. Waiting for something…another question perhaps?

He didn't have any other questions though. Sure, if this evolved into something there would be certain factors that needed to be put into place but those could only be addressed IF he agreed to-whatever the hell this was.

-and truthfully, why was he still questioning it?

Batman had made his intentions very clear from the start. Nightwing shouldn't need a further explanation. For a moment he wondered why his mentor hadn't pointed it out as it was rather obvious and he loved pointing out obvious things that other people had missed.

He needed to stop; it was annoying even him now plus-Batman was still waiting.

Nightwing inhaled a deep breath and released it. He planned rather quickly. He would walk over, reach out, tangle his hands into the excess cloth of Batman's cape and finally-

He managed one step before something stopped him. Something he couldn't identify and something that made Batman move forward one step himself. Perhaps that same invisible force had stopped him too? It seemed the tables had turned though as Batman spoke.

"Frightened?"

Light blue eyes, hidden behind white lenses, went to the floor as their owner answered.

"No, of course not. I've never been afraid of you. Either one of you."

"Unclear?"

Nightwing shook his head, "You've been quite clear Boss. I get it."

"Yes?"

Funny, Batman almost sounded meek there…and Batman was apparently on a roll with his one word questions as well.

Nightwing said nothing.

"No?

Nothing.

"Maybe?" Batman said with a strict nod.

Yeah, still a freaking maybe!

In Batman's mind yeah-it was annoying beyond belief. A yes or a no-that's all he wanted! Then again, maybe leaving him permanently would have been the smart option for his partner? To have left the Batcave that night and never looked back or even just pretending it didn't happen? The Dark Knight wouldn't forget it…his mind was like a steel trap he was self-aware of that. But still-

"Time?" Batman inquired.

"What?"

"Time?"

He could see it. His partner needed time-more time to figure this out.

..OK…

The older vigilante heard his younger partner gulp before Nightwing turned around completely-facing the open window of the penthouse-his hand muscles already tightening in preparation beneath his glove to fire his grapple towards the pizza place across the street.

"I said it wrong!" Batman suddenly called out and took a deep breath after it made his partner go stock-still.

"What?" Nightwing whispered.

"I love you but…"

Silence.

More silence.

Then-

"What!"

"I'm IN love with you."

Nightwing heard no more. He left in hurry.

* * *

Random Poll on the Anonymouspolls.NET:

(Poll Live: October 31st 3:14am)

[Batman]by Rightwing38

Batman?

-Yes

-No

Comments (6) [+691 More-Click to Expand]

Macy411

Oh la la! The Dark Knight!

CaseNCheck

I mean-who wouldn't?

AmethystOne'

Hey everyone-I just made $800 in one hour after watching this video. Take a look yourself then come back around to send me a big thank you!  
Free_Stream_101.rovIII

RedRedRavage

Rightwing38 or AmethystOne' I can't tell who's trolling more.

CaseNCheck

I believe they're doing an equal amount of trolling.

FireKiteKit

Check it again peeps this site is nothing but trolls. :p

(Poll Closed: October 31st 11:40pm)

[Batman] by Rightwing38

Batman?

-Yes  
|X X X X X X X X X _|  
-No  
|X X X X X X X _____|

* * *

Leaning against the Bat-Cycle on Ford Avenue Nightwing turned off his phone and slipped it into the hidden compartment between the gas gauge and speedometer before breathing deeply and closing his eyes behind his mask. His right hand drifted up to press gloved knuckles against his lip as he tried to breathe. Tonight.

The area was already secured so he continued to breathe and let his muscles relax. Memories hit like tennis balls bouncing back and always striking his mind with increased force.

_"I warn you. I lead a perilous life."_

_"I'm not afraid."_

Deep breath.

_"Wow! What hit me? The Empire State Building?"_

_"Good thing you have a thick head of hair. It cushioned the blow."_

"Bruce..."

_BANG!_

_"Uh!"_

_"Look! I got him! I got the Batman!"_

_"BATMAN! YOU MURDERERS!"_

_CRASH!_

_"YOU'VE KILLED MY FRIEND!"_

_CRUNCH!_

_"AH!"_

_"Get him!"_

_Splash! Thump!_

_"He's back from the grave!"_

_"Batman-Alive!"_

"…Batman..."

_"The dirty rats! They tried to kill you! I'd like to-"_

_"There'll be plenty of time for that later. Let's get away from here first."_

"What..."

_"I thought I'd find you here Robin. I want you to team up with me…I'll make you a better crime-fighter than Batman!"_

_"What-? I'm sorry Mr. Marvel, but Batman and I are partners. I'd never leave him!"_

"…have you done to me?"

_"Because, Batman, anyone who drinks from the immortal spring will die the instant he sets foot outside this valley."_

_…_

_"Taking Robin out? If you thugs hurt him-"_

_"Aw, relax, Batman. We're just gonna give the kid some water. He must be thirsty by now…"_

Every moment. Every gesture. Every word.

_"You know I'd rather lose both arms than you."_

And now everything was…

**"I love you."**

Eyes snapped open and previously caught breath was released.

**"I'm IN love with you."**

Every. Single. Confession.

"Bruce…"

Nightwing gripped the handles of the Bat-Cycle tightly, brought up the GPS screen and sped off-half cursing the date. It had to have been tonight.

…but it would HAVE to be tonight.

* * *

Nightwing dropped down into Crime Alley, making no effort to hide the scrape of his boots against the mix of curbed sediment and shredded cement.

The dark figure at the far end of the alley remained in his kneeling position, keeping his eyes upon the wreath he had placed before him. He did this every year, leaving a wreath in the honor and memory of his parents. Then he would close his eyes and remember said night, trying and failing to insert some semblance of his current self into his past self on the off chance he would remember or notice something that he had never seen or noticed before. As with time though, the memories faded. The details were all the same…never changing and the scene was so much simpler than everyone made it out to be.

The arrival of his protégé set him off though. It was true that he knew though. He knew Dick came back to Crime Alley on this same night every year. Even when they were fighting he hadn't missed those years either. The difference was that neither Dick Grayson nor Nightwing ever intervened. He had always remained atop one of the two surrounding buildings if he were out as Nightwing and if in civilian mode, Dick Grayson always lingered at one of the ends of said alley.

When Batman finally rose to his feet and turned around he found that Nightwing had already moved to where the Batmobile was parked in the center of the alley.

Given that Crime Alley rested in a part of Gotham that lay long abandoned by its population of average citizens the area was both quiet, allowing for easy sound amplification, and clear of the city's normal thick sky toxin. The area wasn't dark enough to make out any stars but the moon was in full view on this night.

Batman glanced up long enough to follow the strongest streams of light down and watched in something akin to amazement as a few pale streams washed over Nightwing, the young man now sitting on the hood of his car.

He was beautiful.

"Come here, please?" Nightwing said softly across the air, raising one hand out towards his mentor palm-up in invitation.

Beneath the cowl, Bruce felt a lump lodge itself in his throat very painfully. This was it then. It had been three weeks since the initial kiss (yesterday/earlier Bruce didn't count because Dick hadn't returned a single gesture of affection-only endured receiving them) and now, the man was sitting on his car.

Why did he LIKE that?

Batman shook the thought out of his head and stepped through the dusty debris until he was in front of the younger man. Nightwing turned the wrist of his out held right hand and motioned at it with his head. The Dark Knight nearly huffed; it didn't take a genius to know what to do here. So, with little to no breath he reached up and slid his black gloved hand into his partner's. Now the cloth of their gloves was thin enough over their palms and fingertips to let most physical feelings through, it was dangerous to be swinging on grapple lines you couldn't feel after all, and the sensations of their palms sliding against one another had him near shuddering. As a matter of fact, given the amount of armor that covered the rest of their bodies this was one of the few physical intimacies they could share in costume.

Bruce swallowed the lump in his throat. Not with nervousness but with essential purpose.

The only reason Dick would be here on this night was if he had an answer and Bruce couldn't even assure himself what answer he would get.

"Sit down," the younger man ordered, motioning his head towards his right.

Letting their hands slide away from each other Batman did as he was told. Huh? Wasn't that ironic? Here he was following his student's-well previous student's orders. However he knew this needed to happen. He just wasn't sure why IT had to be 'tonight' as neither the Dark Knight nor the Billionaire were ever at their best on this particular night. To his left, Nightwing reached up slowly towards his cowl. The older vigilante didn't move though as he watched the blue striped gloved fingertips disappear beyond his vision. The right hand coming to rest at the back of his neck as its companion ran up the left side of his cowl until it reached his forehead.

Unlike their gloves, there was too much material on his cowl to feel much of anything at all from the touches but he knew how his partner moved. Even as something as trivial as how he moved his hands was something he was familiar with. He sensed that they were there and that made him turn slightly more towards his companion as the fingers started applying pressure. Their suits had securities upon securities now and quick costume removal was not a necessity these days-no matter what the media liked to say about their sexual lives on rooftops and in back alleys. There were exactly 17 pressure points in the cowl alone that had to be pressed in with just the right amount of force, at the just the right angle for just long enough. Every point wasn't the same though; each had its own specific requirements of time, pressure and angle to undo the security parameters. Apparently though, Nightwing had intimate knowledge of them. For some reason, Bruce blamed Tim for this. The security in question had come into effect during Tim's training. Such features hadn't been present when he and Dick and been Batman and Robin. So, Tim must have told him about it.

Either way, the cowl was pushed up, back and down over his head as the hidden skull plates retracted into the back of his costume between his shoulder blades. Finally, the cloth fell limply below the back of his neck. No matter what the younger man answered, he was going to face this as his true self, someone between Bruce Wayne and Batman. The hands grasping the material of the cowl withdrew themselves and Nightwing flashed him a small pity-filled smile before his hands went to his own disguise. The mask he wore was definitely less secure than Bruce's cowl but it still had its own security. Pressure bands curved around the upper corner of the left eye's lens and under the right's. Much like the points, there had to be enough pressure but instead of pressing in with enough pressure at the right angle, he only had to press in slightly and run his fingertips along said hidden bands with enough speed and force to disengage the security feature.

Then, the mask could be peeled right off. No nauseous gas pellets, disorienting lights, acids or tasers.

After those long seconds of Bruce's brain kicking in to overdrive and over-analyzing, he was finally meeting those bright blue eyes with his own dark blue.

Gosh, they were so beautiful!

-And he really needed to stop thinking that as he watched the previously held smile on his protégé's face drop into a frown.

"I still have a lot of questions," Dick said seriously.

"Naturally," Bruce said, finally gathering the courage to reach up and run a gloved thumb over his partner's forehead in…hope.

"Yeah," the younger man breathed and shuddered at the feel of said gloved thumb against his thin skin.

"So now what Dick? It's your move."

Do you leave me heartbroken on one of the worst nights of the year or do you move towards me and make me the happiest being in existence?

All of the words went unsaid by Bruce's tongue but knowing his partner, he might have heard them anyways. Their connection throughout the years had always been something of a mystery that even the World's Greatest Detective couldn't solve. Perhaps one could accept it as a kind of 'faith' or maybe the synchronization of their physical movements on the street battlefields throughout the years had caused some form of telepathic communication between the Duo? It wouldn't be the first case in their realm of reality where a normal human had developed mental powers.

And if so, like any power, it appeared to be a curse as much as it was a gift.

He wasn't caught up in the thoughts but lost all breath when the light blue eyes staring into his gaze suddenly leapt forward, snapped shut and then-

There was the absolute known sensation of familiar full lips pressed to his.

His dark blue eyes closed as well and whether it was a conscious action or simply instinct his arms shot up, encircled the form before him and pulled him towards his chest. Blue striped gloved hands clamped onto his shoulders as Bruce kissed back.

It was happening. It was happening!

Why was he mentally repeating that for emphasis?

Bruce-didn't care. His personality jumped to the forefront of his mind and knocked Batman back into the shadows. Dick was his! Oh gosh, was he really fighting himself for possession over the younger man currently in his arms?

Yes. Yes he was. Because this was the first time that Dick had initiated the: next-level of affection.

The kiss in question was actually only a few seconds long before the younger man pushed against the older man's shoulders and their lips parted, each participant exhaling a heavy breath against the other. The two sets of blue eyes opened, the darker pair staring in something akin to disbelief. The younger man smiled and released a scoff-like laugh under his breath before pulling his hands from Bruce's shoulders and into the little space that there was left between their chests. His gaze drifted down as his right fingertips danced along the back and wrist of his left glove, disengaging more safety features so he could pull it off. Three more seconds and both gloves fell onto his thigh where his previously removed mask lay as well. Dick grabbed all three objects and turned to place them on top of the Batmobile. He took a deep breath and then fully turned in his companion's arms to face the older man, his bent legs still hanging off the front of the vehicle.

Maybe it was just the past interaction but no matter what the situation, time or problem he faced, this had always been the place he felt the safest in the world. Right here, even if had been forever since he had been in that special place between Bruce's chest and arms. It was always secure. It always felt safe to him because right here was the illusion that absolutely nothing in the world could harm him… because neither Bruce nor Batman would allow it.

And that's what mattered.

It was more of his blind faith in the man perhaps, but he ignored all degrees of common sense again (or maybe he was listening to common sense for once?) reached up towards Bruce's face, let his right hand rest on the side of his face, let his left curve around to slide phalanges into onyx follicles and finally pushed himself forward to kiss the man again.

Bruce let his eyes fall shut again when he felt the kiss return for a sequel. Ugh! Dick's bad jokes were obviously getting to him.

Oh but who cared?

Bruce's hands that were still holding his partner close moved to disengage his own ever layered over security features behind the younger man's back A few pressure points simultaneously pushed in below the ring finger and on the edge of the wrist and his hands were free. He tossed his gauntlets towards the top of the Batmobile where his partner's lay but he couldn't be certain if they had landed clearly or not. Not that he cared at the moment because now his hands were free and oh! Dick should stop surprising him-it couldn't be good for his health!

Because the younger man had parted his lips and they were now both breathing into each other's mouths. Maybe if he had more control, he would have asked Dick where he had recently encountered tomatoes and orange juice-but that wasn't important at the moment. What mattered was that Bruce was parting his own mouth, his tongue darting out to lick at the lining of the younger man's lips.

He didn't-couldn't go too far.

Too much and he'd scare him. Unfortunately Batman chose that moment to intervene with him mentally. Bastard!

_'Come on when he has he EVER been afraid of anything? Much less scared of you?'_

Bruce mentally imagined himself kicking Batman in the shin and stuffing him back into the shadows so he could continue the kiss but Dick broke it then and there as if he had sensed Batman reappearing. Eyes opened again and just stared…waiting. Waiting on his partner to do something.

The older man didn't want to move fast because whatever Dick wanted tonight, no matter how much he demanded Bruce hold himself together, he would make a gift of it.

Suddenly Dick smirked and parted his lips. Perhaps for another kiss? Oh no, to speak. Why had they stopped kissing?

"I'm IN love with you too Bruce Wayne."

His move. His turn. Alright!

Now bare, Bruce moved his left hand from Dick's waist and raised it to tangle his naked fingertips into the younger man's hair.

And damn it! That hair! He never understood how Dick always managed to make it smell so good and make it so soft to the touch. In fact, it was a skill he was rather jealous of, especially at this moment in time. Nonetheless he pressed his right hand harder against his partner's waist before dragging it up his spine. The younger man nearly shuddered with that action and Bruce took it as in invitation to press himself closer and claim those lips again.

Ugh there were a lot of 'agains' happening in these few minutes. Something different. He needed to act!

The hand tracing its way up Dick's back suddenly lessened the pressure on his spine and found the three pressure bands on the back of his costume; one curving around the bottom of his left shoulder and the last two lying in parallel lines surrounding the second rib down. The security for the main suit was disengaged and then that hand went to the hidden zipper at the base of his neck just as Bruce opened his mouth and ran a tongue across the younger man's lips to both distract him and additionally imply that he'd like another invitation to push ever onward into this-whatever it was.

Dick parted his lips and shuddered once, when those warm fingers at the base of his neck pulled at the zipper on his back and dragged it down a few inches and twice, when Bruce's tongue shot into his mouth and dragged itself over his upper teeth.

Dick had to beat down shock because wow! He hadn't expected this from Batman…but then again, maybe he should have expected it from Bruce Wayne.

Either way this time Bruce broke the kiss, leaving Dick gasping as the older man began laying sweet, soft butterfly kisses along his cheek. His hands moved to curl themselves around the older man's neck as Bruce's lips trailed back and finally landed a kiss on his ear. He didn't moan but gosh he wanted to. A breath later though, the younger man felt a sudden exhalation of breath being blown into his ear that made him shudder and slump forward into his mentor's hold with his forehead pressing into the band of armor that protected the detective's clavicle. It made him wonder how deep Bruce's desires went and if they were really, honestly all for him right now?

Dick simply told himself not to think about it too much. Thinking never let them get anywhere in their relationship.

Gosh! Relationship! He had thought it!

Well he was still thinking it as Bruce abandoned interest in his auditory system and continued a stream of kisses down the side of his neck.

And he thought he had to have been shuddering before! A release of breath, a gentle tug of hair and his head tilted backwards, exposing his throat to the exploring mouth.

Dick was gasping and, even if they weren't high pitched, he felt the moans on the back of his tongue as the older man's lips danced over the thin skin of his neck and throat. It was just too much of a sensation and he closed his eyes tightly. It was all apparently a distraction though as Bruce's hands left the zipper on his back and his hair to slide themselves over the younger man's shoulders and insert two fingers each into the edge of his suit around his lower neck; just enough to consciously have a grip and pull at the material. Said material stretched away from his neck via those fingers and Bruce's hands finally pulled the cloth away enough that he could slide them below Dick's shoulders. Finally, his large fingertips met bare skin and he pulled back from Dick's neck.

He tilted his head forward and bumped their foreheads together, a smile growing on his face as he encouraged the younger man to open his eyes again.

The bump of craniums did indeed force Dick to open his eyes and blush fiercely because for such a menial action it was so representative of that night when Bruce realized that he was in love with him.

Seriously! A bonk on the head!

How many people actually fell in love this way? Would he get answers if he googled 'bonked my head and fell in love' on the web?

Knowing the irony of the moment he wouldn't be surprised if he found articles on it. He just hoped that he didn't find one written by Bruce. That would be more awk-weird than them actually falling in love.

But-here they were!-As impossible as they had chosen to see it.

A fingertip brushing itself across his lower lip made Dick blink away the thoughts and stare back at his partner.

Partner. That meant so many new things now. New things he had to accept as much as Bruce did. Though the World's Greatest Detective seemed to be on top of it…

"So beautiful," Bruce breathed as he moved one of his hands from Dick's shoulders to trail a thumb up the younger man's cheek.

The temperature of Dick's face increased, probably doubled and perhaps he would have passed out from embarrassment if Bruce wasn't doing a bit of blushing of his own. This was another surprising thing.

"You should stop that Bruce. I'm not one your showcases."

Seriously, he was not. He wasn't a preppy little blond girl that would hang on to Bruce's arm all of the time.

The older man chuckled, "You never would be."

Dick shook off as much of the blush as he could (if there was one thing that remained of 'Bruce' at this moment it was that he could sure flirt!-and, it turns out, he would learn that all too well soon enough) and let his hands fall from around Bruce's neck just as Bruce let his fall from the younger man's shoulder and face. Said hands lying between the two of them Bruce scowled, he didn't like that. At the very least they should-

He got his wish when Dick reached out and intertwined their fingers together. That action made the scowl vanish and be replaced with a small smile.

Across from him Dick took a very deep breath. He had already talked with Alfred about this-he reminded himself.

He had given Bruce his time, his loyalty, his love and his life and he would do all of it again and he would continue to because-

Because he absolutely, absent of any doubt, eternally…would love this man more than anyone or anything EVER. Maybe that was stupid and yeah it left him bare for any kind of hurt Bruce wound inflict but Dick always forgave him and always would. If anything the harsh times made their relationship perfect. Made it proof that no matter how much bullcrap, torture and pain two people could go through and put each other through there was something there that held them together and would continue to whether this stopped right here or if they moved forward.

Dick released Bruce's hands and reached up to wrap them back around his neck, he got as close as he could to the other man and hoped Bruce could read intention in his eyes.

Bruce Wayne had had his heart since day one, their partnership had already surrendered his life, their shared tragedy had linked their souls and the numerous years together had synchronized their minds.

Heart. Life. Soul. Mind.

He had one last thing to give Bruce Wayne and Batman.

Dick hoped that this was enough as he pressed his lips against Bruce's once again and closed his eyes. He heard and felt the gasp of breath as the older man's arms encircled him again, pulling him even closer, his strong fingers taking short trips to the front of his abdomen to dance over his ribs before their chests were pressed together harshly, as if the symbols they wore on their chests were trying to merge into one.

Almost as if it foreshadowed…Dick shook off the thought as quickly as it had come to his mind.

"Bruce," he mumbled against his lip, gasped and then continued, "I've given you everything I can except…one last thing."

"What?"

He gulped and continued the kiss never pulling back far enough to separate their mouths and only speaking against the older man's lips.

"It's all yours Bruce. If you want it."

Bruce's eyes opened during the next hard press of their lips together and showed confusion until he heard a characteristic sound.

_Snap! Snap! ... Snap! Snap!_

Those were the clasps of-

His eyes widened in sudden understanding and despite better judgment, and Batman yelling in the back of his mind that this wasn't how it was supposed to go, he raised his own hands to grasp Dick's bare shoulders, turned and pinned him to the hood of the Batmobile.

"What do you want?" he finally breathed between them, lips still moving together as if attempting to compensate for all of the missed years of being apart.

"It's 'tonight' Bruce. Whatever YOU want," the younger man breathed back as he parted his lips in another invitation and his hands settled themselves on the detective's biceps surrounding him.

So as messed up as the entire situation was, that evening Bruce Wayne stared down into beautiful eyes as full lips whispered two frightening yet fearless words against his own.

Batman-committed those said two words to permanent memory as he claimed…

"Oh-"

* * *

_Night. Weight. Breaths. Madness. Fearlessness._

Nightwing scanned the far end of Crime Alley all the while thinking. It was this alley where it all started and he ironically wondered if this was where it would all end. He heard the footsteps of black boots behind him as he raised his eyes towards the sky to search out the moon. He even heard the distinct sound of specific gloves sliding over strong hands. Soon enough arms were circling his waist from behind, the hands folded over one another on his stomach and he felt breath on the back of his neck.

"It's late and even I will admit that we need to talk."

"What about your patrol?"

An annoyed sigh dusted the back of his neck and ultimately surprised him. Bruce-Batman was irritated about having to patrol?

Nightwing nearly jumped out of his skin when a kiss was pressed to the back of his neck. It made him sigh contently a second later though and tip his head backwards. There was a swish of Batman's cape from a short sidestep (Every Bat-Clan member needed to know the meaning of each and every Bat-Cape swish!) and then cowl and all, the Dark Knight was resting his chin on the younger vigilante's shoulder. He always wondered why couples did this, now having Nightwing here -like this- he had all of the answers he needed. As corny as that line had been though Batman turned his head slightly and placed a butterfly kiss on his partner's cheek which made the younger man's eyes slide open and meet his own. Neither had drawn down the lenses of their masks so their blue eyes were all too visible when they met one another.

"Forget it; if there's trouble the others can handle it tonight."

Nightwing blinked twice and gosh he was doing that an awful lot lately. He could stop if Batman would just stop surprising him every time he turned around. Speaking of turning around he did so, carefully moving as to not give the impression that he wanted the older man to release his hold on his waist. Finally face-to-face the younger vigilante returned the kiss to the cheek as sweetly as he could. Then Batman surprised him yet again by letting himself blush at the action.

He decided not to fight it, debate it or just look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Thank you, but it's 'tonight.' You should go."

As for Batman himself-damn it! His heart had never beaten this fast or felt this warm.

What the hell was it about Dick Grayson that did this? It was completely unfair and a dozen years had NOT prepared him for this. OK, he had never prepared for it in any way but still-

Either way, they NEEDED to talk, especially after tonight but then again-perhaps not now. Though his face was partially hidden, the younger man was clearly tired. His stance and eyes gave that away much too easily.

"Compromise. Only if you return to the Manor and get some rest. I'll see you soon and…we'll talk…I give you my word."

And with that Batman pressed forward one more time for one last kiss of the night.

* * *

He wouldn't see Bruce for a week at minimum. Dick Grayson simply considered it a smack of reality when he climbed into bed that evening-well early morning as the clock on the far dresser of his room in the Manor displayed a time of 2:47 am. He supposed he'd get a good night's sleep, have an Alfred-made breakfast, say goodbye to everyone and then head back to New York-to work through the decision he had just made back in Crime Alley. Before he could sleep though, the young man brought up a hand and rested it on his belly. It wasn't the same-but good enough. He intended to remember every moment and Bruce was right, they would need to talk eventually…it was just going to be a little while.

He should have stopped assuming somewhere between following the Batmobile that night to Crime Alley and finally pressing his lips to Bruce's. He'd taken the Bat-cycle ironically to the alley and back. Damian had wanted to check out the internal structure and digital system on the Nightbird and had been well-Damian, so Dick had had to resort to other forms of transportation for the evening.

Tim. Jason. Cassandra. Barbara. Damian. What would everyone even say about this?

Of course-he would not think about it as he was already certain how the conversation would play out. No one had to know but the two of them. Free love. No strings attached.

As previously stated, he needed to stop assuming because he awoke to his clock reading 7:53 am. The sun had already risen and tendrils of light were peeking through the curtains. None of that was important though as he felt the edge of his mattress sink down beneath suddenly added weight and before he could bring his tired muscles to push himself up there was a body lying down next to him, a reminiscent kiss delivered to the back of his neck again and an arm curling over his side to tangle their fingers together against his stomach.

"We need to talk," was whispered in his ear.

Dick inhaled and exhaled slowly, grasping the hand on his stomach that much tighter.

"OK."

Somewhere in the back of his mind he was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that Bruce hadn't disappeared off the radar, had come into his room and was now…holding him. Truthfully, this was his favorite part of the experience, not that he would EVER tell anyone. Being held was…nice. Very nice!

But this talk was unavoidable and inevitable. Dick pulled Bruce's hand away from his stomach and sat up, leaning back against the headboard as a very wide awake Bruce sat up beside him. His dark blue eyes were all but digging into the younger man's subconscious as if almost angry with him.

"Dick, you are completely aware of what happened back there?"

"Of course I am."

"Tell me you meant it."

Dick laughed and turned on the irony smile he had kept locked up most of the night, "Oh Bruce, I wouldn't have let you get close if I hadn't meant it."

"OK, fair enough but you are aware that this…US…we're-"

It wasn't unusual when Bruce was lost for words, but it always seemed to be funny. Dick had to sigh though.

"Yes Bruce. I know what that was and what it meant….what we did."

The older man frowned in contemplation and reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. This move had always been comfortable and warm to the literal touch for the two of them and was no different now. It made both men smile.

"OK, well for starters-" Bruce began but was cut off.

"I already know the regulations Bruce. We can't tell anyone, we have to keep this a secret, we can only be together like this when we're alone, we can't go out in public and you'll need to keep up your status as a billionaire playboy, so you're going to have keep being with women as well."

Now it seemed to be Bruce's turn to blink and that made Dick laugh.

"I knew it all going in Boss so don't worry about it."

With that the younger man stretched his arms up towards the ceiling but decided he could still get another hour or two of sleep as he HAD been out late. So with a relieved sigh he slid back down beneath his blankets and rested his head back on his pillow. In the meantime Bruce had apparently decided to let him sleep but didn't appear to want to leave his room. What? Was he going to watch him sleep?

Oh well-weirder things had happened.

With that he let himself sink into the plushness of the extra soft mattress, the cozy blankets and the ultra-fluffy pillows. Thank you Alfred! Besides, the whole 'watching your partner sleep' wasn't something new to the concept of couples anyways. It was common from what he knew. So, he didn't make a big deal out of it. If that was what Bruce wanted to do, then he wasn't going to stop him. Besides, he did find it rather sweet of the man. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Dick leveled out his breathing and felt all his muscles go slack back to dreamland.

He then jerked awake when he suddenly felt a hand cupping his face. It was just Bruce, he reasoned, so he relaxed again. He was persuaded to open his eyes though when Bruce's lips landed on his rather abruptly and quite forcefully. When the older man pulled away his hand fell from his partner's cheek and moved over and across his body to brace Bruce above the younger man. Bruce just stared down at him incredulously for a very long moment.

"No," Bruce breathed.

Dick blinked in surprise yet again for what he was sure was easily the 100th time that night, "What?"

"No," Bruce breathed and shook his head before descending and pressing their lips together again as softly as he could manage.

He pulled back just to keep speaking and to narrow his eyes into a persuading glare, "Absolutely not. Dick, I can't. After what happened tonight? I can't pretend or fool myself into thinking that THAT is all I want out of this."

Confused, he tensed his muscles and pushed himself up to come eye to eye with Bruce.

"What are you saying Bruce?" his jaw dropping down in a little bit of shock.

Bruce's gaze burned, "I'm in love with you Dick Grayson and I want the whole damn world to know it."

With that Bruce grabbed Dick by his shoulders and had only to pull the slightest bit to crash their lips together.

THAT. Definitely shut him up as he responded in kind, pressing back against Bruce fiercely. He only managed a second of contemplation before Bruce was lowering him back down into the mass of warm blankets and fluffy pillows. The kiss ended and as Dick focused on regaining his breathing pattern Bruce brought a hand up to run his fingertips down his companion's cheek. The movement caused the younger man's eyes to flutter as he tried to clear his gaze. The sensation had left him so winded, he was certain that Bruce had taken some moisture from his eyes as well as his lips. He finally managed to open his eyes fully and stare at his mentor in the low available light. The only problem was that as soon as his eyes worked out the basic color of Bruce's eyes, he managed to look just in time to see the older man licking his lips in…hunger? Or satisfaction?

"You mean you want this to be…public?"

Bruce nodded and stretched up a bit to lay a sweet kiss on his forehead. The hand he had on Dick's cheek trailed up and brushed the loose follicles of his hair away. He didn't want them falling into his eyes.

"Yes," the older man said so determinedly that it sounded like an order from Batman himself.

"Oh my gosh, Bruce I-" Dick started and pressed his hands down into his mattress to push himself back up into a sitting position.

Bruce rose up as well, moving and turning his body back onto its side so he could keep eye contact with his partner. Unfortunately, the frown decorating his face was all too telling even in the low light of the room. If he'd been a small man, he may have missed it.

"Bruce?"

"Do you not want this? Do you not want me? In Crime Alley we-"

Dick had raised his hand and clamped it over Bruce's mouth.

"Just give me a minute Bruce. I need a minute."

Bruce knocked the hand away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You've had a month," Bruce pointed out, his frown turning into an angry sneer.

He pulled his blanket-covered legs up until he could successfully fold his arms over his knees and rest his head on them. He…hadn't thought of this. Hadn't even considered it! Bruce loved him and he loved Bruce. Bruce wanting to pursue a relationship with him was strange but exciting enough but in addition the older man didn't want to hide it? He wanted it to be more than hand-holding in the dark, quick kisses on rooftops and the occasional press of their bodies together? It wasn't that Crime Alley earlier had lacked any devotion or love from either of them but Dick had jumped into this expecting more of Batman. Perhaps rooftop meets with a kiss or two? Perhaps a quick ten minutes of passion when patrols got them together and left them alone? Perhaps a bit more physical attention from Bruce Wayne during their civilian lives?

But he wanted this to be known?

"Well?" Bruce nearly barked, deeming that his partner had had enough time.

"I know I've had a month Bruce and I do-want this. Want you. Want US. I just…I just didn't expect that you…that you would want this…want this public."

Bruce lost his anger, his barely there face displaying contemplation instead of anger. Maybe he did understand?

"Why would I ask that of you?"

"Why? Are you seriously asking me that Bruce?"

"Fine, let me rephrase. Why do you believe that I would want us to keep this a secret?"

"Oh I don't know," Dick said sarcastically, not able to stop it, "Wayne Enterprises, The JLA, The Outsiders, your reputation, your previous partners? Do I need to keep going?"

"It's my company, I can do what I wish and I'm far from the first. The League members are my…friends, those who care don't matter and those that matter don't care. As for the Outsiders, I'm their boss-they have no influence. My reputation? They'll be shouting that I'm gay-I've been called worse. Lastly, as you said 'previous partners'-they're in the past."

The younger man blinked a few times before he turned his gaze down at the edges of his knees, "I don't want to hurt you Bruce. If people leave Wayne Enterprises or stop helping Batman because of this-I can't."

"Stop it!" Bruce reached over and grabbed his companion by his shoulders before shaking him slightly.

"If anyone treats me differently because of this relationship it will never be your fault. Now stop being such a damn martyr."

"Bruce I-"

"Dick shut up. Just shut up and kiss me."

He shifted his body and did so, his hands rising to twine themselves around his-apparently very soon to be-public partner.

"Bruce?" he murmured after pulling back a minute later.

"Not more doubts please?"

"No. I promise-no more. Just…stay. Please?"

Bruce gathered his partner in his arms, lowered him back down onto his bed, reached for the edge of the covers and slipped beneath them. In less than a second though, his partner was back in his arms pressing another reminiscent kiss upon his lips.

He wasn't entirely certain he didn't fall asleep like that.

…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Hmm…what was that? Bruce opened his eyes and his slightly blurry gaze landed on the sunlight pouring in through the window across the room. It was late morning then? His eyes went to the digital clock in the room which displayed a time of 9:34am. Yeah, it was definitely the late morning.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Someone at the door. He blinked twice and then gazed down at the form encompassed in his arms. He was still sleeping but did appear less tired than after…last night.

Last night…and the early morning…

Still tired, Bruce smiled, closed his eyes and somehow forgot about that knocking and the gasp that followed the sound of the door opening. He just fell back asleep, happy that he could experience waking up with his partner in his arms.

* * *

_Lunch. The Watchtower. E-Lab 32N. 2:00PM_

Dick stared down in something akin to confusion at the message displayed on the tablet sitting on the edge of his Nightcomputer (name still in development but it was working for now) when he returned to his HQ after a rather uneventful patrol of New York City. It had been four days after he and Bruce's…actions… in Crime Alley and he had been strangely at ease. It was true that the two of them had talked the following morning and slept a long time. At 11:00am though Bruce had pulled himself from his companion's bed and stated that he had to leave for a meeting in LA. So he would be gone for a few days. Dick had simply nodded in acceptance as it wasn't an unusual occurrence. Strangely, after showering and getting dressed for the morning he had been shocked when Bruce stopped back by his room to kiss him goodbye. This was still kind of shocking him days later.

He had simply returned to New York City in favor of facing the other…'faces' in the Manor. Alfred knew but Dick wasn't ready to confront him yet and he was far from being able to face Cassandra, Tim or Damian. Or anyone else for that matter. Not the JLA, the Outsiders or even…the rest of the Titans, given that Tempest had apparently kept their talk a secret. He and Bruce obviously still had a lot to work out.

This had to be why he had this message-Dick guessed.

So Bruce/Batman had stopped by New York, gotten into his base (which wasn't hard since Dick had given him administrative clearance to begin with) and left him a message on a tablet. Which had accomplished two things: one, it left the message untraceable and two, it had worked as an excuse for a present as the tech tablet was one of the newest prototypes from Wayne Enterprises.

This was SO going to be part of the conversation!

* * *

This was wrong.

That was the sentence being mentally growled in the Dark Knight's head as he leaned back and just…breathed. Of all of the situations this could have happened in-he had chosen this!

Half of it, he was certain was insanity, and the other half was the dramatic flair he wanted to impair on his partner.

Partner…that made him bite his lower lip in thought. Partner-that meant something more now, something so much more than it had before.

Either way, here he was. The E-Labs were a new string of cabled satellites from Wayne Enterprises. Three had been gifted to the JLA for progress of the self-sufficiency space race against Lexcorp's new OTC's (Oxygen-Temporal-Cubes) stationed on the moon. The E-Labs were basically large green houses full of a variety of rare earth plants but mostly extraterrestrial foliage. The OTC's were compartments of carbon, hydrogen, a large portion of amino acids and various machine adapters. Each billionaire was pushing his company in the race for more efficient oxygen production/exchange in deep space.

The OTC's Bruce found to be nothing more than pretty lights and a bunch of neon buttons!

Then again, all of that was a business matter he had already argued previously just days ago in L.A. There was no need to fall back on it now. And the ARM connection had dried out for the time being.

"Batman?"

Because his partner was here.

Batman glanced up from where his eyes had been fixated on the amount and ease of the oxygen molecules in front of his face and two pair of lenses met. Inside, Bruce smirked. Yes, it had to seem quite a shock for his partner to find the Dark Knight requesting a meeting here of all places. The 32N E-Lab was based on the splitting, isolating, joining and releasing of molecules from noxious gases found on earth. But again-thinking over the processes going into the new E-Labs was NOT his purpose here.

It was his…partner.

"Join me," Batman said, motioning to the spot next to him.

It had to be a shock for Nightwing as this lab was more aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the others. The center of the E-Lab was just a field of T'lin, a century-old crossbred Martian grass, and a fair number of earthen trees dotted the field. The largest was oak and the Dark Knight himself was sitting on the grass leaning back against the trunk, although he was pointedly NOT staring up at the experimental energy source in the domed ceiling that the Green Lanterns had added to his system.

His thoughts only left the tangent when Nightwing stopped by the tree and lowered himself onto the ground. The younger man was still semi-looking-around and dedicated a whole thirty seconds to staring up at the burning hydrogen energy before he glanced towards his partner.

"I'm here," he said bluntly, his mouth turned kind of sideways in a bit of worry.

Batman might have taken a calming deep breath at the moment-if he had been someone other than Batman. Instead he simply turned his entire body towards his companion and reached out to lay his gloved fingers along the stray onyx follicles that were hanging along Dick's cheek.

The young man inhaled a sharp breath, "Batman."

"Do you regret it?"

"What?" Nightwing breathed, turning his head to face his mentor directly.

Those damn lenses were still down so he had no hope of reading anything beyond the turn of the Dark Knight's lips and angles of his chin. And no, he was not lovingly admiring either! They'd been reading each other for so many years that it was just natural these days!

"Crime Alley. Do you regret it?"

Nightwing smiled, "No. Never."

"Good," Batman growled and moved fast, reaching across and around Dick's body to press his other hand into the younger man's lower back.

"Bat-"

That was all that Nightwing could manage before his body was turned without his will and pulled forward as the hand pressing his hair into his cheek guided his lips to his partner's. He didn't waste time after that, one hand reaching up to grip at Batman's shoulder as the other drifted to the large black bat stretched across the older man's chest. Again, there was too much armor for them to feel anything physically but the knowledge of the location was more than enough and even if he didn't have the super senses to hear it, Dick knew where and how his companion's heart was beating.

Nightwing laughed into the kiss at his own thoughts. Now all they needed were inconspicuous speakers in the walls to play some 70's music!

"What's so funny?" Batman muttered as he pulled back and licked his lips.

Nightwing shook his head as he spoke, "Nothing. Just…. thinking."

"About what?"

"This. This is crazy."

The older hero hummed his agreement as the duo just sat there.

"You mentioned lunch," Nightwing pointed out.

"…I lied."

"I know."

Dick was the first to have to adjust for uneven pressure against his limbs but took advantage of the excuse to bring his hand away from the bat-symbol so he could reach up and press at the hidden switches that raised the lenses in his mask. They were technically still liable to be walked in on by anyone in the JLA Watchtower that decided they wanted to spontaneously check on the donated E-Lab but Dick deemed the risk low enough. Apparently Bruce did as well because he retracted the hand on his companion's cheek and raised his cowl's own lenses.

And the younger man couldn't stare at those eyes for more than three seconds as the alien intensity he saw within them was just too much. He was once again overwhelmed, his eyes fell down onto the older man's chest and he replaced his hand there before he spoke.

"B, what are we doing?"

"Being intimate. Couples do this I believe."

Nightwing almost rolled his eyes but smiled with his teeth instead before closing his eyes and throwing back his head as if his body wanted to laugh anyways. Except, he could not laugh right now. He could not. Thankfully, he did have a relaxation method at the moment. Shifting his weight against the ground, Dick pressed himself against his partner, turning his face into the Dark Knight's neck as the hand he had pressed against the bat symbol drifted up to clamp itself on Batman's other shoulder. True the bend of his neck was covered by armor like the rest of his body but it was enough to catch the feeling and scent that was all too familiar. Well, more familiar now more than ever before, since their…intimacy.

Dick swore, one day he would be able to say it. One day.

Back in Batman's mind his thoughts were strangely still and one-sided. Some primal force had to be present as he simply readjusted his hold on his partner by winding his arms around his waist and pulling him as close as possible. He wanted this. A lot. Forever.

And that shook him. Terrified him more than he thought he could ever be. Of course his thoughts had already traveled to the reasons why this was bad idea a long time ago. He hadn't actually brooded on them for very long, dismissing most of them instantly.

And now wasn't the time to go over them again either.

Besides REgression was obviously NOT…PROgression.

Being bold, Batman pulled back from the shared embrace, only to place his own hands on the blue stripes that created the stylized wing V on Nightwing's chest before pushing his partner back and down into the grass. He didn't allow a protest to escape Dick's lips as he quickly braced himself above his partner and pressed their lips together again. He knew objectively, without any of his feelings applied to the situation, that Dick Grayson was a great lover. His record of past relationships and the fact that those companions were still close friends spoke that truly enough. Of course now Bruce, and to an extent Batman, was experiencing this…more pleasing aspect.

Now, Bruce had in no way slept with all of those partners that the media spoke of. If he had he wouldn't have had time to do his job as Bruce Wayne much less his job as Batman. So while experienced enough to be an expert, he was not all-knowing. That's probably why Dick managed a free leg to gain leverage enough to turn the tables and force the older man onto his own back as their mouths opened in the kiss and their breaths mixed. It wasn't that long of a kiss though as Nightwing ended it and raised himself above his companion. Perhaps the position should have afforded some kind of pleasure from the passion pregnant play but alas, all Dick could do was attempt to regain his breath.

Oh gosh, they were supposed to be talking not making out!

"There's still a lot we need to go over," Nightwing said after a deep breath.

"Yes, we will, but one thing first. If we're going to skip lunch then afterwards, let me take you to dinner."

"Hmm, what kind of dinner?"

"You choose."

"Really?"

Batman actually snorted, "We'll go to Pancake Penthouse if that's what you want."

"YOU would actually risk being seen in that place?" Nightwing said with a laugh.

"Sure as long as I get to keep kissing you."

OK, this time he did roll his eyes, "-and this is where I question if the Brucie-flirting is an actual 'cover-up' or an integral part of your DNA."

At first, Nightwing had almost dismissed the premonition that their talk would extend so long. After all the awkwardness of the initial meeting had thankfully melted into um, that intimate action and then into a playful short bargaining. Of course, Bruce had pulled a typical 180 under the cowl and got right down to business.

The duo had moved back to the earthen oak tree to finally hash out the words and the first thing was their family.

"This will scar Robin," Nightwing admitted, all too aware of how awkward this was going to be to Tim.

"I think he'll be OK," Batman said.

Tim was a smart boy well-teen…err near-adult. Wow, how the years went by!

The Dark Knight spoke up again in the short silence that followed their thoughts, "I'll have to assure the Red Hood that I didn't force or seduce you into this."

Nightwing almost laughed. He half wished he could already see Jason's reaction to the news.

And for that matter-

"We'll have to assure everyone that nothing happened…before," the younger man said to the side.

Batman nodded before muttering, "Alfred."

"-already knows," Nightwing injected.

The Dark Knight suddenly tensed beneath his suit.

"What is it?" Nightwing asked.

"Oracle."

The younger man bit his lip and turned his gaze away from Batman to stare back down at the alien grass.

"Let's go back to her later."

"Dick," Batman growled, risking revelation.

"Later…please."

"Fine."

But now there were growls in Batman's voice, like he was repressing Bruce.

"Batgirl?" the younger vigilante asked, trying to turn the subject away from his previous romantic partners.

"We'll have to explain but perhaps I should leave that to Spoiler," the older man said quite gruffly.

Yeah OK, he was NOT going to avoid having to talk about Barbara.

"Little D?"

The Dark Knight shifted his weight and deepened his frown, "He already loves you. If anything he'll be hounding me to treat you right…and threaten to kill me if I hurt you."

True and it was disturbingly both scary and adorable all at the same time. Much like his father!

Nightwing sighed, "OK, go on."

"Oracle," Batman growled again.

Nightwing did laugh a bit this time, "Really Boss? The woman who has up and declared publically and to everyone we know that what we had was a 'cute little puppy-love' AKA; I'm dating you for fun so don't expect anything serious from me? Why would she be a threat? Unless you have anything left over from when she tried to get in your bed a week after I left?"

Batman relaxed beneath his costume and looked like he wanted to laugh, "No. I had no idea what was going through her mind at that point. Glad I made her see a psychologist."

"Maybe she missed me?"

"Then she should have gone with you in the first place or talked to you at least. Seducing ME was not going to solve her problems with YOU. Honestly, women."

"I feel your pain Boss."

"What will she think of this though?"

"She'll probably be mad."

And if Bruce wanted to pull Barbara into the argument-Dick was going to pull another woman into it.

"Catwoman?"

"Thief," Batman said so fast and blunt that Nightwing suspected that he may have had the answer prepared from the beginning.

"OK, anyone else?" the younger man asked.

"Huntress?"

"Not happening ever again!" Nightwing said loudly and very quickly.

"Good."

Did he have to sound so smug about it? Damn Bat!

"Talia?"

"Terrorist."

Batman had had these answers all ready for the questions. No doubt about it!

"Kory?" the Dark Knight mumbled, somewhat showing some nervousness.

Nightwing shifted and stretched his arms up to release pressure and tension on his limbs as he unloaded as much sarcasm into his next words as possible.

"The alien princess who left me for a political marriage that she swore to me didn't count or matter right before they both publically announced that their goal was to populate Tamaran with a bunch of little girls? Yeah…that was going to last. What about Diana?"

"She's a princess from a line of immortal warriors who hate men-that was never going to work out. Donna?"

"Ew! She's like my sister boss, seriously don't ever read Winston's tabloids again-the man is crazy."

"Noted."

"Dinah?"

"She's hooked on Oliver…for some reason."

Nightwing smirked at the confusion on his mentor's face. Yeah, no one quite understood the relationship between the siren and the archer. It really made no sense whatsoever.

"Kara?" the older man asked.

Nightwing raised a worried eyebrow, "One, I don't want to get super-punched and two, shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"What do you mean?"

"She liked you too."

Batman growled, turned his body, reached out and pulled his partner into a hard kiss.

…No Bruce, just all Batman.

"Kara, Zatanna, Barbara…I'm tired of them using us. They can all go find other men to play musical partners with. You're mine."

So that was it then-dating! A relationship! Public!

Oh boy…

And for all curiosities, he didn't get to yell at Bruce about the WayneTech Tablet.

* * *

It's two weeks later, when Nightwing pulls into the underground Batcave where Gotham City's vigilante is pacing the stone floor, grumbling, that they begin to face the first waves. Leaving the Nightbird to sit proudly beside the Batmobile, Nightwing made his way up the access staircase that connected the lower level of the cave where they kept their vehicles and to the main computer, which Batman was-pacing in front of.

Uh-oh. The last time Bruce had been pacing was his confession.

"Batman?" the younger man asked.

His voice seemed to pull the Dark Knight out of his thoughts and even if his face remained stoic, Nightwing didn't need to see to realize what was going to occur. He didn't fight it when the detective stepped forward and drew him into a soft kiss.

OK. Interesting information he'd love to mention to everyone. Batman-was actually very gentle with him. Sure there was more noticeable energy with Bruce Wayne but this was…nice.

"Very nice," the younger vigilante mentally muttered as his hands rose up to rest lightly against the bat symbol stretched across his partner's chest.

Unfortunately the kiss was too short but necessary as the bat pulled back and continued frowning.

"What's wrong?" Nightwing asked, neither moving from their embrace as Batman's hands scrambled over the younger's man's back and searched out the location of the vertebrae in his spine.

Gosh he wasn't a cat! Or maybe he could blame Selina for the habit? Ugh! He didn't want to think about her!

"It's the others. Damian's outright ignoring me and I have no idea what I did to make him angry. Neither Tim nor Jason have been home in weeks."

Batman's right hand abandoned its hold on Nightwing's waist and instead rose up to pull back the cowl. Bruce did look worried-as worried as he could look anyways. The younger vigilante smiled as he lifted his hands from the bat symbol and reached up to remove his own mask, which he quickly slipped into the compartment on his left arm.

"Bruce I don't really think that's out of character for Jason. Maybe Tim's just busy and Damian's probably in a brooding mood. You get in them all the time after all."

"But not like he's been. Every time he sees me he glares. Do I really glare like that?"

The younger man raised one thin eyebrow, the amusement and annoyance all pureed across his face.

Bruce's left had abandoned searching out his partner's spine and he reached up to run a hand through his hair with a deep sigh, "No wonder my villains are psychotic."

Dick couldn't help it, he smirked and said it.

"I told you that you need to work on your social skills, you got real bad people problems."

"Dick, be serious. They might know."

Nightwing frowned.

"You mean, know about…US?"

Yes they had agreed that they wanted their relationship to be public and open but it wasn't like Bruce was going to dress them in silk and start a parade to profess his romantic interest. True, they had been on one date last week but given they hadn't made any announcement about it they had amazingly avoided having their pictures taken by any media photographers. Also, Bruce had toned his request down to a midday lunch at a small café. Not that someone couldn't have taken a picture as Bruce hadn't resisted flirting, or holding his partner's hand or just leaning over the table to kiss him.

And IF it counted as a second date, Batman and Nightwing had taken a short twenty minutes to share Chinese takeout the night before this on the gargoyle-ridden rooftop of the old cathedral. Batman had stolen his egg roll so Nightwing had stolen his fortune cookie.

"But how?"

"I'm not sure," Bruce admitted.

"Well, we were going to tell them first anyways. Look, why don't you go talk with Damian? I have to head to Sirius City so I'll stop on my way to talk with Tim, OK?"

Bruce nodded before reaching up with both hands to hold his partner's head still as he pressed a kiss to his forehead.

They would leave to do so…

…shortly…

* * *

_"We saw you two-"_

_"…listen Timmy…"_

_"…in his office."_

_"In his office…? Oh, that's it?"_

Tim could not believe that they were having the conversation. Did Dick not see that he was about to jump out of the window due to insanity?

"I mean I know it's a big step for Bruce but you can't argue that he hasn't been happier."

"And you two are SURE about this?" Tim asked, twitching where he was sitting behind his desk in his room at Titans Tower.

Both were in Tim's room, the door open and their masks gone from their faces.

"Of course we are!" Dick said with a wave of his hand, "I mean it's no biggie."

"Huge-y," Tim muttered under his breath before speaking up again, "I think-Dick, are you absolutely sure this isn't going to cause more problems between you and Bruce?"

"-but Tim that was the whole point of this. Alfred's been pushing us for months. He finally got through to Bruce with bad cooking and he was about to start using it on me."

"Alfred knows?!" Tim squeaked.

"Of course he knows it was his idea in the first place."

Tim had fallen silent with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

"OK, stop it, you look weird like that. Now, I did stop by to see why you haven't been home in weeks. Batman does need your help out there, Robin."

"I'll be home for dinner," the younger muttered, his eyes getting lost in the world of letters and numbers that were on the sheets of paper that covered his desk.

A sigh, "Well, alright then but I warn you that Bruce is going to want more answers than that."

Dick stood up from where he had been sitting on a nearby chair, stretched and reapplied his mask to his face.

"Don't worry he's not mad, just confused," Dick mentioned, heading towards the door where he spotted Tim's team peeking in around the corner.

_So they had seen…and didn't know…_

* * *

The very next day-well night, they had a sort-of-date. Batman was counting it as a date anyways-because he was Batman! After a number of explosions at Gotham University a week prior (any further explosions had been stopped by the arrival of a strange combination of Spoiler and a visiting Birds-of-Prey, Misfit) the Dark Knight had been keeping a close eye on the suspected perpetrators. The chemist professors at GU, Arnold Greg and Giovanni Ronald, had some cleverly-hidden shady backgrounds in chemicals much more volatile and questionable than sulfur hexafluoride, nitrous oxide or everyday sodium chloride. He planned to keep an eye on them as their part of the parade passed Reynolds Tower. That would be a good ten minutes into the very early morning the duo was out on though.

Batman had been waiting for his partner of course-he always got there first-but Nightwing had arrived in a short five minutes presenting a box of doughnuts and Alfred-coffee. It made the Dark Knight smirk from where he was standing on the edge of the building before he stepped back and took the box that held the doughnuts and thermos and he shoved it into the overlaying shadows of the slightly taller North tower beside their current south tower rooftop.

"Batman what-?"

As quickly as he could move, the Dark Knight was sitting on the edge of the building and pulling his partner down into an embrace. True they weren't even through the first few weeks as a couple but he knew his partner well enough that he loved hugs and just-loved physical contact. He liked being held-Batman knew that. And as one could guess, the younger vigilante was quick to relax into the embrace, looking up to accept a soft kiss from his partner.

"You look good," Batman whispered as he leaned forward to breathe the words into Nightwing's ear.

The younger man nearly shivered from the release of air and parted his lips to speak when he suddenly heard a low level hissing sound. Batman scowled and reached for the commlink in his cowl. JLA business then, Nightwing shifted to move away but the Dark Knight's free arm encircled his waist and pulled him close. He couldn't hear a voice just a series of beeps and once the sequence was apparently over Batman was scrunching his face up in anger.

"Superman's on his way. Here. Now."

Nightwing blinked once before smiling. He hadn't seen Clark in a while-a visit would be nice. A growl from his partner made him stop the thought though as Batman abruptly turned and buried his face into his hair.

"Batman!" Nightwing started but stopped once he realized that he didn't know what to say.

He even knew less to say when both of the Dark Knight's arms encircled his waist and pulled him to his chest.

Batman said nothing more just immediately started a cuddle-attack that Nightwing was starting to peg as his signature move anytime that they met. Yeah, more weird stuff from Batman. In fact he was learning so much about this side of the detective he was certain that he could run a blog or even a cable show about it! He did try to pull away and managed a little space before he was pulled back.

"What-do you want Superman to see this?"

"Yes," Batman said so stoutly that he strangely sounded like Damian for a moment.

"Boss, he's going to freak."

"Good."

"Eh-Man of Steel freaking? No. Not good Boss. Not good at all."

Batman shrugged, "Doesn't bother me."

"Well, it bothers me. Besides, we can't let Superman know yet."

"Hm?"

"Remember, we promised to tell the family first?"

Batman actually groaned but did pull away from the cuddle successfully.

"It's not my fault they can't stand ten minutes of each other so we could tell them."

"We made a decision Boss."

Batman sighed and released his hold on his partner before switching his gaze down on a particular colorful float that the two chemist specialists the detective had been investigating were riding just as there was a sudden flash and boom of fireworks. The Dark Knight followed the sparks of light and observed that there was no danger from the show. Unfortunately, the sparks had effectively announced the presence of the Man of Steel behind and above them.

"Something wrong Superman?" they asked in unison.

The Kryptonian floated down behind them with an amused smile. Nightwing returned it-which made the Dark Knight raise an annoyed eyebrow at the alien. OK, he knew that he had no reason to be jealous because there were zero possibilities of losing what he shared with his partner to Superman but still-his eyes couldn't help but take a quick switch to the blue symbol stretched across Nightwing's chest and even the name...

"Well?" he growled at their visitor while he tensed his muscles beneath his suit.

"Be nice," his partner said with a sharp elbow jab to his ribs, "Batman, you promised."

He had promised nothing!

The Dark knight did release a sigh from the back of his throat though, "Fine. Want to join us?"

There. He could allow that and even if he hated this Nightwing enjoyed Superman's company so maybe that would put him in a good mood and when they were alone again they could-

Superman smiled, walked over and sat down next to Batman, "Sure. What's the celebration for?"

"They finished rebuilding the University," Nightwing said turning so he could pull the box Batman had hidden earlier out of the shadows.

Batman turned his attention back to the float below with the chemists, trying to dull out their visitor.

"…doughnuts for dinner?" he heard the alien ask.

"It's three in the morning," Batman pointed out.

He took another long stare at the float before turning slightly towards his partner, "You know what I want."

Nightwing rolled his eyes, somehow still expressing emotions behind his mask that no one else seemed to accomplish, before reaching for the box. He pulled out a second smaller box, a large thermos and a small stack of Styrofoam cups.

"Yeah I know. One coffee, you take it black and your favorite sprinkled doughnut."

Hm, sugar. Bruce mused on calories as he was handed the sweet.

"Batman?"

The doughnut was stopped halfway to the Dark Knight's mouth whereupon he turned towards Superman and growled, "What?"

"That doughnut."

On Batman's other side Nightwing froze as he was reaching for one of the doughnuts in the box, "What, are they poisoned?"

"That doughnut's pink!"

Silence.

And then-

"Congratulations, you're not colorblind and of course it is, its strawberry," Batman said, finally biting into the doughnut.

Nightwing resumed reaching for his own doughnut, plain glazed, while he simultaneously poured cream and sugar into his own coffee, making his partner shake his head slightly in exasperation. What he did to his coffee was horrifying but Batman guessed it was worth the sweetened taste of his lips later and made more sense for a tea drinker to do so.

"Now don't be rude Batman, he did come all this way to-uh actually why are you here?" Nightwing asked.

Batman couldn't help the statement. It just…escaped. His partner's influence he was certain.

"Yeah, it must have taken him all of three seconds."

He'd get teased for that later…oh well!

Superman found his voice again, "Uh, actually I heard something interesting from Superboy today that Robin shared with the Titans."

"Oh, you mean about this?" Nightwing spoke up, catching the Kryptonian's attention.

Alien blue eyes saw the movement of the blue striped arm and then…a black velvet box. Superman was shocked back into the air in front of the building.

"What's wrong?" Nightwing said with tilt of his head.

Batman too looked up. What was wrong?

"It's…true?" the Man of Steel whispered.

"Of course it's true," Batman growled into his next sip of black coffee.

"…"

"…"

Uncertain of what the tension was for; Nightwing raised the box of doughnuts towards Superman, "Doughnut?"

"Ihavetogo!"

Swish. He was gone.

"And you say I'm rude," the elder vigilante said with a huff.

"Maybe it's Lois."

"Women."

"Be nice, and have another doughnut."

Batman caught the look on his partner's face. Friendly banter, they could do. Besides he doubted Superman was very far away as of yet.

"At least Crispe Cream spells doughnut right," Batman mentioned, his eyes sliding over the 'From the World's Greatest Pastry Company since 1937' greeting line printed on top of the box before he reached for another treat.

"Hmm, I don't get it why don't they call them dough-wheels or dough-rings? In fact now that I think about it they look more like washers than nuts," the younger contemplated.

"Oh what are you complaining about? This newest generation can't even spell doughnut."

Nightwing laughed, "That's true."

"It's 'dough'nut not 'do'nut," the elder muttered.

"Two jokes all within the same hour? Should I be worried?" the younger man asked with a raised eyebrow and amused grin.

"It's all your fault," Batman said with a shrug, polishing off another doughnut.

"Alright, yeah it is but I did get Tim back to Gotham. By the way do you honestly think sending Damian out with Tim and Steph tonight was a good idea?"

"Probably not but I already paid Stephanie to distract them so we could have tonight for ourselves," Batman said solemnly, his eyes resting on the box in his partner's hand before they moved up and met blue on blue.

Blue eyes that promised him everything.

"Uhh…"

Both night dwellers glanced up to see that the Man of Steel had returned but was frozen in place while floating in the air in front of them.

"What?" Batman barked with a glare. He was interfering with the time they had to spend together!

Swish! Gone again.

"What's his problem?" the Dark Knight asked.

Nightwing shrugged in response, "How should I know? You work with him."

The detective frowned. He hadn't seen the League in a month and actually his partner had been the last to work a case in New York with the Man of Steel.

"You worked with him last."

"Oh come on, during that whole investigation we talked for a total of maybe…twenty minutes."

"WE don't talk that long," Batman said with an expression somewhere between a sneer and a pout that was kind of funny to Nightwing.

-who leaned over to peck his partner quickly on the lips.

"Then talk Batman, I'm listening."

* * *

_"Alfred do you know where Bruce is?"_

_"I believe he and Master Dick went to Tebel."_

_"..."_

_"Master Tim?"_

_Click._

"And that was it?" Batman asked, leaning against the tree behind him.

A frown marred his face as his butler confirmed that those had been his student's last words in his call to Wayne Manor. Tim was smart-that was a problem in this.

Beneath the dark cowl, blue eyes switched their attention from the dirty ground beneath black boots and aligned themselves to an oddly-shaped group of trees in the distance between numerous other trees that surrounded the area. It was a late, dark evening after their mission in the nearby village and the area was excluding its own theater of audio. That was good. They could use that.

"I'm afraid so sir," Alfred said over the commlink.

"I'll talk to Tim when we return."

"Very good sir and how is Nightwing?"

"Fine. The poison was flushed out of his bloodstream two days ago but I needed to be certain."

"Paranoid but understandable, sir. Now, I believe you have an evening to enjoy with your partner."

"Well I-"

"Why haven't you cut this connection yet Master Bruce, nervous?"

"No!"

"Then do go be happy."

Click.

Alfred Pennyworth was scary. No two ways about it. Bruce turned off his commlink and reached up to undo the security on his cowl before pulling it down. He took a deep breath of the air that was still giving off a scent of wet ash. The mission at the nearby village had left him a bit off balance. As often as he saw it and even as much as it touched his life on a normal basis it still unnerved him. Everything had been cleaned up though. The radiation leak had been repaired; it had faded from the area, survivors who had taken shelter in underground bunkers during the explosion had been freed and directed to the peace officers over the Eastern border. Of course that had been when nature had decided to throw a wrench in the work with a sporadic thunderstorm.

Because why not!?

Bruce turned away from the sight of the surrounding trees and back towards the circle of yellow and orange light that danced in the center of their campsite. The single large log Bruce had rolled by the fire was now braced with rocks and the man breathed out in relief. OK, so he wasn't being too forward then. Bruce walked around both the sitting log and the fire to step in front of the large green tent.

He heard his partner before he could reach for the opening.

"OK, thanks Captain Marvel. Yeah, I'll see you all next Friday. Goodbye."

Bruce huffed and pulled away the cloth door outside before stepping inside and letting said door fall closed behind him. Dick Grayson was standing in front of a bucket of water that balanced atop a fold-out table. His Nightwing costume was long gone from his form and more than likely stashed away safely. Dick had on a pair of navy sweatpants but his dusty t-shirt was draped over the side of the bucket.

A step closer revealed to Bruce that the water was releasing a small amount of steam. So he was still tending to the wound carefully. Good. That was good.

"Hey, what'd Alfred have to say?" Dick asked, turning around as his hand blindly reached for the now damp shirt.

Bruce set to removing his gauntlets as he made his way over to his partner.

"He said he's gotten an obscure phone call from Tim."

Dick bit his lower lip and-AHHHH!

STOP DOING THAT!

-and frowned before speaking wearily, "I think he suspects Bruce."

Bruce turned away, tossing the gloves down on his sleeping bag. Getting the message, Dick turned back to the hot water. As he stared at his murky reflection he raised the folded t-shirt to dab at the wound on his neck. Ouch! That memory hurt!

"Whether he knows or not-it doesn't matter. I never planned on keeping us a secret."

"…"

"Unless YOU have changed your mind?"

Dick froze at the inquiry and he was quick to speak up.

"Don't be ridiculous. Maybe I'm still reeling at the whole…idea but I'm with you."

The dark cape fell to the floor.

"Really? You still sound uncertain. If you don't want this-"

Boots.

"Bruce, for the last time I've just been shocked by it. It doesn't mean I love you any less because I'm still in awe of it all."

Bruce let the utility belt fall onto black cloth-the bright yellow clashing against the dark shade.

"Then you don't regret it?"

He moved on to the security defenses on his armor, starting at the neck.

"NO."

Absolute. Truth.

They stood in silence for five more minutes, Bruce divulging himself of the remainder of his armor, cowl, boots, belt and gauntlets sealing them all away in a camouflage bag hidden behind the geothermal light near the ceiling of their quick-shelter. Dick still had his back to him as he pulled out a change of clothes. Boots, cargo pants and a long sleeve shirt made of thin cotton. The outfit was a bit warm for the hot African climate but the recent rain and nearby river did give their area a slight chill. Not to mention, they would have to be hiking back northwest towards Djibouti tomorrow afternoon so they didn't get mixed up on the news story that would be breaking. He'd need the cover against the local bugs and snakes.

But for tonight?

Bruce turned back just in time to see his partner pull a small blue bag from beneath the table the bucket sat upon. He took the chance here and walked up behind his partner, making more than enough noise as he reached out and touched his hands to Dick's sides. The younger man shivered at the touch and Bruce got an idea. Sliding his hands up, barley touching skin he reached around Dick's waist, balled his hands into fists, turned them, stepped as close as he dared and just let his wrists linger over Dick's shoulders.

"Bruce."

Waving his wrists in mock-rocking motions he pressed his inner wrists onto the curve of Dick's shoulders and slowly…achingly slowly…slid them partially down his biceps before returning to his shoulders and then turning again, so the veins in his wrists came to a rest at the thick arteries in his neck.

Dick was gasping asking all higher powers how THAT had been more erotic than any naked person he'd ever seen.

Maybe it was just Bruce or maybe it was just him. He clutched the bag in his hands a bit tighter, readying himself.

"You-"

"Don't have to do this I know. You asked though and I want to make you happy. Besides! It's been awhile. You go ahead. I'll join you in a few minutes."

"OK," Bruce whispered, letting his hands drop from his partner's shoulders.

But it was a weakness about him. Bruce leaned forward and dropped a kiss on the mark on his partner's neck. Momentarily he kind of blamed himself. He should have seen it coming. Nightwing should have just yelled "look out!" but now there was a very clear red mark on his neck dotted with pink circles. He officially hated radiation today and animal mutation. Nonetheless he retreated and escaped outside, grabbing some firewood from the other side of the tent to throw onto the blaze.

"You don't have to do this!" Bruce called back into the tent.

"I know! But I'm going to! Now will you go relax? You did ask for this earlier!"

"I asked for information!" Bruce called back as he stepped around the fire and took a seat on the large log.

Dick either didn't hear the comment or ignored him completely. Either was possible. It would be a few minutes so Bruce set to poking at a protruding stick in the bonfire with his foot. Just contemplating. Things were…good between them. They'd been on a few dates, no newspapers were running the real story of course but they could play fanfare all they wanted. The duo hadn't managed to pin their family down and inform them because they all apparently wanted to NOT be in Wayne Manor at the same time as the two of them for some reason. Bruce had already concluded that if they all weren't drawn home by a dinner party from Alfred, both he and Dick would go to their family members individually to tell them the truth.

Swish.

Bruce glanced over at the tent in response to the sound and took a deep breath. Tonight he would…

Now, he hadn't actually intended on this tonight or EVER really. Previously to beginning the mission in Tebel, when they had been back in Djibouti, they had come across a typical marketplace to take in the sights. What they had come across in the corner square of said marketplace were… dancers. Belly dancers to be more specific. Bruce had instantly labeled them foreigners due to their recognizable skin tones of the Mideastern regions. There was a woman dancing center stage (well center rock as the market corner was composed of multiple small sandstones) done up in a rather flashy outfit. It was a stereotypical costume with a decorative bra and skirt. The full ensemble was white, the skirt nearly brushing the ground that was slit up to her thigh and the decorative silver buttons and charms on the cloth were reflecting in the sunlight of midday. Her feet were bare but three large rings of gold were surrounding her left ankle

"Egypt- Raqs Sharqi," Dick had muttered and casted a strange look at his partner.

Bruce had immediately wanted to know how Dick had even known that. Apparently Haley's Circus three years ago had taken a specialty tour into the Mideast and Africa. Dick had joined them for a few of the shows and gotten quite a crash course in the dances.

"Tell me more."

"Bruce, is this your way of asking me if I'll dance for you?"

And now here they were.

The soft click and clack of decorative beads and gems escaped the tent before their wearer emerged. Bruce held his breath as the firelight brought the shine and shimmer of metal and crystal to light. Feet wrapped in thin black cloth met the dusty ground first before cloth flared out above slivers of visible tanned skin along the beginning curves of shins.

Soft Gray. Night Dark Blue. Golden Yellow.

Before Bruce could open his mouth to either speak a protest, give a compliment or anything the strings of "Ya Hassen" began escaping from the tent as the dance began. Bruce relaxed his grip on the log beneath him, breathed out a long breath and then leaned back slightly for a better angle as gemmed dark blue bands on wrists set to twisting and turning bright golden thread and beads struck each other in noble mockery of a wind chime. One hand plummeted to outline the sharp edges of a thin hip bone as the other raised, brushing past onyx locks to trace a large circle above the performer's head. The wristband's assortment of gems glinted reflecting the warm colors of the bonfire; orange contrasting blue, red contrasting green and occasional specks of purple contrasting the fire's outline of yellow. The tempo of the song changed and hips started slanting and rolling. Both hands flew to the upper right as shifting pupils fell to the ground for the shadows to hide a smile. Shoulders and arms moved in waves began a coronation above as a single foot lifted and danced back to brace its heel against the invisible boundary of a stage. A slow ascent and straightening of the neck revealed a smile and excited eyes.

Bruce smiled back and relaxed another degree-all encouraging as the melody of "Ya Hassen" raised in volume.

Short steps left simultaneously brought the arms down to the waist where a rare V-shaped belt followed the invisible dip of the dancer's hips.

The older man almost caught his breath at the anomaly but allowed it to pass over his mind. Perhaps there was more to this than-?

"Ya Hassen" switched off and the stage held a quiet breath before another song began, hidden speakers this time playing a light "Saher Al Sharq."

Movement sped up, gems flashing as legs reached out to tap at invisible patterns in the dirt. An opaque scarf appeared from behind the dancer's back as the cloth was twisted and tossed up into a vain-appreciated-copy of the flames between them.

"Beautiful," Bruce murmured and across the blaze skin stained itself with red from neither fire nor crystal as the dance continued.

Arms flew, feet slid, hips rolled, fingers twisted to and fro and the beat increased. Shoulders pitched forward into a wave and a released breath was quickly followed by the chiming of gems when wrists crossed at the stomach. They shot back into the air, going into circles while the body turned away from its audience. Another quick turn and the body began to travel across the empty stage, kicking up dust and twisting air along with the undulation of the torso.

The beats ended with a quick stand-at-attention and violent snap of the scarf.

Another silence and Bruce took in the tiniest expansion of his partner's chest. Reading for a final act?

He was proven correct when the scarf was dropped back near the entrance of the tent and the dancer moved forward before turning around. Again, the pause faded as another foreign tune began. Thankfully another Bruce recognized but didn't know casually.

"Sendur" began and another fire blazed.

Energy was the ideal word. Everything melted into a jagged jigsaw of a performance.

Lifts and drops. Slides. Shimmies. Twists. Circles. Figure 8's and wide but quick undulations met in battle of performance. Despite training-Bruce's eyes could barely keep up. Every move was sharp, full, taking full advantage of both the flow and stage space. Just as it should be-

The chords slowed down momentarily before picking up again causing an almost pause in the middle of a slide before a shimmy interrupted and followed the music. Bends were quickly incorporated as the shimmy picked up speed. Legs folded and the spine bent as the dance took on a lower elevation. Arms twisted beyond average as they reached up into waves. Shoulders tilted forward and back into an additional wave. A dip in tempo signaled a rise in the elevation. Feet planted firmly on the ground, legs slowly straightened in contradiction as the remainder of the body kept increasing in speed to keep up with the beat.

Two more twists and three circles joined the coordination before the music cut and the performance ended with a rapid bow.

He didn't need to clap before the younger man was turning to pull the scarf from the doorway of the tent and circling the fire to settle down next to his partner.

"I'd say beautiful but that might be a bit repetitive," Bruce muttered as he reached out to run his pale fingers along a bare dark tanned shoulder.

Dick, though a bit breathless, answered with a, "Maybe."

But he was smiling too-so all was good.

"Baladi, Sharqi and Oryantal. They're pretty basic."

Bruce let his fingers move to follow the curve of his partner's arm before he spoke.

"This wasn't uncomfortable for you?"

Blue eyes met his in surprise, "No Boss. They're cultural dances. Just because the west sexualizes them doesn't mean the rest of the world does."

"I'm glad," Bruce muttered before he frowned.

"What is it now?" Dick groaned.

"Are you feeling any uncertainty for this at all?"

Dick reached up to flick his partner on the forehead before his fingers curved over and gripped Bruce's chin harshly.

"For the last time Bruce…I want this."

A kiss silenced any further protests in the night's heat.


	2. US

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT begins...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline can now be found in any second chapter of any story in this series. Consequently US here has turned into a monster of a fic, much longer than I ever anticipated. Also, I'm afraid my pursuit of my associate's degree in Networking System Administration has...taken up a majority of my life. 
> 
> I'll try to get back into writing more.

_Bruce breathed a kiss onto the skin beneath the jeweled choker as his hands flapped helplessly about the air before they found purchase on thin skin over sharp hip bones. There was heat-so much heat. He pulled back his lips, lengthened his jaw and let his front teeth scrape over sweat laden skin. He unconsciously knew of the vein as his tongue reached out to caress it. There. Blood. Rich, running blood of this life in his arms. Of this light that was for him-and only him. His upper teeth caught on the vein and he closed his jaw over it, letting his lower teeth encase the lifeline in another moist heat._

_His love moaned at the sharp pinpricks completely absolved in the scene of vulnerability._

_“Ah!”_

_Well maybe not. The scarf, a faded gradient of light gray to dark blue snapped around Bruce’s waist and pulled their bodies closer together before cold beads danced over the back of his neck. Then there were fingers in his hair with another moan but they didn’t linger nor travel. They pushed and prodded and finally settled on the soft tissue that made way for the upper vertebrae of the spine. And there was sudden sharp, intense pressure from the fingers._

_Both movements were insulations that creepily mirrored their other lives._

_One bite to this vein. A few minutes-you’ll bleed out._

_One stab and twist. Instant break-you’ll be dead._

_It was terrifying and yet-still so beautiful. The night air gave a final cool breeze that didn’t cool the heat at all before Bruce pulled his partner down on top of him as they lay next to the dying fire._ 

Memories of the warmed night rested in a back corner of the Dark Knight’s mind as he browsed the lines of code in the new laser grid program he was testing on the Watchtower. The problem with basic grids though-was that it was…tedious. It was a constant entering and reentering of the same 90 degree angles on each line. He should have known it would make his mind wander. In fact-he DID know. So why had he-?

Well, he was thinking differently recently. 

The Treaty for the Beta-6 sector of the Millen Galaxy had been processed and finalized. The single planet in the system that housed life was a brown hued planet with a race of war-like people of varying shades of the cool colors of pigment. Some glowed near neon violet while others became as green as earthen plants while their own vegetation were mixtures of black and gray. Thankfully, the Treaty had been to committee and was signed by their Commander-King. There was a committee of goods exchange being set up but nothing had been written down as of yet. They didn’t need to fear war though.

It was one thing down.

So many more to go.

Bruce allowed his thoughts to focus elsewhere as his gloved fingertips typed in another row of: IF X+1=Y/2 GO TO Line 10 

Now, he would be focusing on the relationship aspect of his life more…prominently. He felt a little off balance at the sudden return of affection from his partner-even if it HAD been his plan. Truthfully, he had expected it to take a lot longer than it had. In fact, he would have to leave to see Nightwing soon as he would be hunting down the last of the Enigma gang runners in Gotham. The Babylon were being successful at avoidance and might be regrouping. He wanted to look into it though before he possibly turned the problem over to one of his teammates. Silence came with its own difficulties these days.

Speaking of which, the silence on his relationship was settling uneasily with him. No matter what Dick had said Bruce still felt uncertain. NOT uncertain of his side of the relationship but rather his partner’s-which was ridiculous; especially from his logical standpoint! Batman was always manically pleased to take over his thoughts and remind Bruce that his choice was ideal. 

And it was.

Of everyone he knew-who better to share everything with? 

Of course-there were risks. He wasn’t so flooded with information and to-do lists that Batman wasn’t aware of that. Dick Grayson was already dangerous in all ways and was already a weak point in both Batman’s and Bruce’s psyches beforehand. He had already cared too much to begin with and now he cared no more or less than before but, much like his thoughts, differently. Purpose was no more or less important but was well-different. And it hurt. Hurt a lot more than ever. The paranoid thoughts of loss.

He couldn’t lose this or HIM.

“What. Is. This?”

Batman looked away from the screen and to the side as a familiar white and black folded mass of paper fell with a slap onto the table beside him. He could easily distinguish the identity of the red and blue blur at the edge of his vision (wow he must be tired) before his eyes scanned a familiar name and an expected headline.

“Kent, if you cannot recognize newsprint after so many years of your profession at the Daily Planet then you are clearly beyond any of my help.”

He had enough time to save the last line of code before a familiar hand was gripping the armor plate over his clavicle. So, Clark was going to be the first. Alright, he could work with this.

That was when he was raised from his seat and slammed into the nearest wall. Ouch! OK, not as easy as he thought but still-there were going to be complications; he had already known there would be when he had started thinking about this. He thanked unforeseen fate that he had stocked his utility belt with various kryptonite and red solar radiation weapons. Unfortunately, Clark’s eyes were glowing red-clearly JUST keeping back his heat vision burning a hole through him. OK, yes. He was aware that Clark Kent would probably be the most influential of his friends in response to the news but-this was a bit much. 

“Tell me it isn’t like that Bruce! You’ve got 30 seconds to assure me!”

OK, forget the mask he was wearing then if they were just going to yell about it. And Clark’s eyes were still red.

“…It’s true,” he muttered and then felt intense heat swipe over his head as the heat vision took off one of the ears of his cowl. 

Superman was gritting his teeth and now his eyes were ALL red. OK, he would apparently have to resort to-

But then the red faded away and the gritting teeth fell into a frown before the Kryptonian looked down at the floor beneath their feet and shook his head back and forth quickly but distractedly.

He was…sad?

In the back of Bruce’s mind where the most ridiculous thoughts of his appeared it caused his body to tense with trepidation. Could Clark-? But then Batman’s logical mind jumped in.

‘Don’t be ridiculous-Clark’s married. Besides, he’d be an idiot to try. Nightwing will never leave us-especially not for a bullet-proof alien that can defy gravity.’

But then again-he loved to fly and bullet-proof skin was great protection and-

Batman’s logical mind blanked out at the stupidity. 

‘You are ridiculous!’

Bruce felt his feet hit the floor again and the hand around his collarbone’s armor plate left to curl into a fist at the alien’s side.

This-wasn’t what Batman had expected. At all. 

“Clark?”

Superman raised his arms to cross them over his chest as he released a long breath. His eyes opened and then drooped at the outer edges. Finally, he spoke.

“Why Bruce? Why?”

The Bat turned his head slightly, felt the absence of the cowl’s ear, grimaced and reached up to undo the security features and pull it off. The weight was completely off balance. Clark was waiting patiently for an answer though so-

“…I love him.”

The alien before him blinked twice and his lips twitched into the beginning of a smile but not quite.

Bruce heard a gulp and then-

“You’re certain that this isn’t too-sudden?”

The dark clothed hero narrowed his eyes into a glare and sidestepped so he wouldn’t fall back into the dented wall.

“I’ve been planning for months.”

Clark blinked twice again and then frowned.

“Months? Just months?”

“Is that a problem? Should I have waited years before I told him?”

“Did you consider not doing this at all? What are you thinking Bruce! You have to know how everyone’s going to take this!”

“Why-are you judging me Clark?”

“Maybe I should Bruce. What are you…thinking? Doing this to Dick? And if you already-”

Superman took another deep breath. “How long Bruce? How many times? When? Where?”

“…The cave. It seemed fitting.”

Clark’s eyes grew in alarm.

“The cave?” he sputtered.

“What?”

“Doesn’t the rest of your family work there?”

Bruce raised an eyebrow and inquired, “Point?”

“Point!?”

The red eyes were back. And-

Crunch!

There was another dent in the wall now! Great!

“I’m not keeping this a secret Bruce! I’m telling the League!” 

Clark was compressing the armor and choking him. “Go…ahead. You’ll…save me a trip.”

But the heat vision eyes were gone again and the wide stare had returned while Superman’s jaw dropped. “You…you’re not ashamed about it. At all.”

“I love him. I’m…in love with him.”

“…how do you know?”

“I know.”

Superman dropped him.

“Bruce…don’t you think you’re moving too fast?”

Bruce coughed thrice to realign his air intake and then turned prodding eyes up to his teammate. “Too fast? Five dates in one month is too fast? How traditional are you?”

Clark blinked and choked out, “Dates?”

“I believe that’s what they’re called.”

“But-”

“…what?”

“Uh, Ihavetogo!”

Swish!

Bruce shook his head and stared heavenward before he muttered, “Alien Farmers.”

His eyes drifted to the computer screen he’d been working on and caught the clock he had synchronized for Gotham. 

7:12pm

He’d be a little early but if luck would have it-Nightwing would be early too.

* * *

He found his partner upon a rooftop, which was pretty normal, staring after a departing bewildered looking Red Hood, which wasn’t pretty normal. Batman was worried about poison residue in Nightwing’s bloodstream, had been worrying since their departure from Tebel. While the younger man had been tired there had been no clear aspects that the mutated substance had left any negative side effects but still-perhaps Batman had dropped the case of the runaway Enigma gang members into Nightwing’s orders to keep him in Gotham for another few days. Just to make certain there were no surprise side effects that would pop up later on!

Honestly, that’s all it was!

Having him in the city did give him a chance to look at their relationship again but that a superfluous bonus. Didn’t REALLY mean anything it was just-there. So what if he took advantage of it? Besides, Superman and all. The League.

It wouldn’t be long. 

And as much as he had already prepared for the consequences, it was a strange feeling that he wasn’t…emotionally prepared for the backlash. Still, he had made his decision. Miracle of miracles, he’d had affection returned and the nights…moments…

…had been pleasurable…

…Even if he was being stubborn…

_There was a kiss and then a sudden sharp nip to his jaw. A gasp escaped his lips and-_

_“Come on Boss. We’ve got eight hours until sunrise,” Dick whispered as he hooked a foot around Bruce’s left ankle and tilted his head back. Baring a throat. Movement that threw him for a loop._

_Bruce gulped._

_“This would be much easier if you weren’t so tempting.”_

_Dick knocked his head sideways, exposing more throat before whispering, “…then be tempted.”_

_“No. I’m not jumping into bed with you.”_

_“Why? Don’t you want me?”_

_“Damn it! Yes!”_

_And he had launched himself upward pressed his teeth to the jugular fast but gently before moving and caressing the slightly expanding windpipe with his lips. Moaning began there and only increased in volume when Bruce’s hands reached down to press slightly into the skin of his partner’s thighs. So much! So much!_

_Bruce pulled himself away, switched the hold of his hands to the younger man’s hips to keep him from lowering any other temptations and raised his gaze. “As I said: I can’t pretend or fool myself into thinking that THAT is all I want out of this.”_

_One light blue eye gleamed in the echo of the firelight. “Is this one of those cliché: ‘I’m not in this for sex’ and/or ‘I don’t love you for your body lines?”_

_Pout. “Exactly.”_

_Dick laughed before taking a deep, but happy, breath. Then, he pushed himself off of his partner and sat up. Bruce followed and before Dick could breathe another word, darted forward and began nipping at the base of his neck on the left side right into the bend of the collarbone._

_It was more than low enough to lie beneath a shirt collar._

_“-But I’m happy to do this.”_

Coming back out of his memories Batman found himself a mere few feet away from his partner when Nightwing finally noticed him. Again, he was worried. If the poison was interfering with the other crime fighter’s senses then-

"Man, everyone is freaking me out."

"Something's wrong with them."

The younger vigilante turned his head sharply and found himself only three feet from the Dark Knight.

"Obviously. Weren't you heading for Star City?"

Batman crossed the last three feet and sat down next to Nightwing all the while saying, "I was but Robin said he'd take care of it with the Titans and left as fast as he could."

He glanced at the large red dark mark on his partner's neck and reached up to ghost his own fingertips around the wound before clearing his throat awkwardly and saying, "Sorry."

Nightwing shrugged and quietly answered, "It's alright. I mean, we were BOTH caught up in the…craze."

"Still, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," Batman spoke softly, switching his gaze to the roll of gauze in the younger man's hands but making no move, waiting.

Nightwing rolled his eyes heavenward but then handed over the gauze while sighing out, "For the last time, I forgive you."

Even though he knew Bruce would only slightly forgive himself when the mark was gone. It was something they would have to work on, but for now it was nice to relax and allow the strangely warm gloved hands to redress the wound. There were compromises to be made-always would have to be made, but they were doing well.

So far, so good.

So when the edge of the bandage was taped down Nightwing reached out for the black gloved hands and pulled his partner in for a long, drawn out kiss.

Batman breathed out when they broke apart.

"Alfred's dinner didn't get everyone at the Manor. Anyone."

Nightwing’s easy smile fell into a frown.

“I’m not sure that I-“

Bruce raised an eyebrow beneath his cowl and scowled while growling out, “It’s much too late to back out now. If you didn’t want-Mm!”

A sharp nip at his lips silenced him before Dick pulled back with a smile, all with shiny teeth.

“If I had known I could have stopped your yelling and complaining like THAT I would have done so years ago, Old Man.”

Batman glared. “…You’re not helping.”

A sigh. “I know. So, what do we do?”

“Superman’s telling the League. That picture from The Inquirer was-”

"-Proven real. Should have been more careful about stopping at that diner for date #3. I already heard it from Tempest. The Titans are hounding him for answers." 

“Go ahead.”

“Really?”

“The League will probably show up within the next few days. I’ll need you to be…here.”

“So…?”

“Don’t stay in New York too long.”

“…Bruce…I don’t think I can pass off my job for much longer. I have to do more than show up to the museum sporadically.”

“Just tell them the truth then.”

A blink. 

“Wait, what?”

“Tell them the truth. Society won’t be far behind the League or the Titans.”

Dick tilted his head to the side in confusion, lack of an ability to raise an eyebrow behind his mask at the moment.

“As shocking as its going to be that I’m dating the 5th richest man in the world I’m not certain that excuses excessive consecutive days off of my job.”

“6th.”

Nightwing rolled his eyes and muttered, “Fine, the 6th. Still-”

“You could quit?”

“No! I have bills to pay.”

“I could-”

“Absolutely not! I do not need your money!”

Batman sighed and let his shoulders drop in defeat muttering, “Just be back in 72 hours.”

The younger man smirked and exclaimed, “Finally, some sensible talk.”

He leaned forward and pecked the Dark Knight on the cheek before leaning and falling backwards off of the rooftop.

“Show off!” Batman shouted after him.

* * *

Garth fingered his trident nervously at the three pairs of eyes staring him down. His throat felt like cotton and he really couldn’t breathe correctly. He could still see the message behind his eyes that had been sent to him over the Titans’ network.

_We’re ready. Tell them._

“Well?” Wally asked.

The Atlantean gulped before letting the first words pass his lips.

“Batman and Nightwing are-”

Simultaneously, Superman was the attention of multiple pairs of eyes. It was far from the whole League. Just those of them that were close in their civilian lives. His message was still on his cell phone. Yes, the Dark Knight had sent a text message of all things!

_Save me the trouble. Tell them._

“Are we going to be here much longer?” Oliver asked, looking around at all of the faces in the room.

“Uh, everyone? There’s some news Batman wanted me to share with you.”

“Oh, no. The Bat wants to share something? This can’t be good.”

Back in Gotham City, Bruce watched the news transfer between the heroes' monitored networks as he reached for a security keypad to his left.

9…14…4…9…1 

_“Contingency LE: 38 and LE: 40 activated.”_

Everything would be fine. Just fine.

The chime of an incoming message made him turn is attention away from the lower left corner of the Bat-Computer’s screen to its center.

_SM: Wayne Tower Rooftop. Friday at 8:00pm. I’m sorry._

So that was it then? 

…Very well. He had been prepared for the worst. 

Bruce leaned forward and copied the message, storing it away in history before forwarding it to the Night Tower. It wouldn't do any harm to have the extra back up file. Then, was shocked when he received a prompt reply.

NW: Do you need me there right now?

Bruce smiled and typed back: ‘No. Finish your work. Monday, like we agreed.’ 

NW: OK. ; ) Love you! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO!!!

His partner cut the connection before he could reply but Bruce found himself smiling at the blank screen before-

“Why Master Bruce-is that a smile I’m seeing?”

“Maybe you’re dreaming Alfred?” but he didn't stop smiling. 

“I would believe it **Sir** , if I didn’t KEEP seeing it as of late...”

The accusation was there. Tried and true in Alfred's voice. It made Bruce's smile fall into a frown.

He took a very deep breath. “…Alfred?”

Well-it was now or never. He was prepared. He made the plans but nothing, not even admitting his feelings for his younger partner, had quite lodged something the size of a watermelon into his throat like this moment.

Breathe. In. Out. Breathe.

“…Yes Bruce, let’s talk.”

* * *

**********************

It came too early in Dick’s opinion and as with nearly every aspect of the relationship-his partner was giving him an out instead of doing this. They had set aside a whole night for this interaction before they would face the others and then the League because well…

Barbara. Barbara Gordon. Batgirl. Oracle. 

Monday night and Dick had had a choice. Batman had to test some new Batbots for their new undersea scanners and he had invited Nightwing to go with him. The bay and river were too shallow for the bots’ capabilities so they had to be tested out over the open ocean. Batman would actually be taking one of the older model Batplanes; it still had an old, sturdy rope ladder. There were memories there and memories to be made. It was a full moon night and maybe the Bat was a romantic in his dark heart. 

The scene was something so simple:

The plane’s hover jets would be keeping it well above the surface of the water, both vigilantes having to lower themselves on the ropes to keep a physical eye on the bots, the rope ladder swinging slowly and just skimming the surface of the sea in a barely-there wind that pulled up a chill from the water. The both of them hanging close together as they stared down at the reflected lights of the stars in the dark sky, each star shining its own diamond reflection on the water’s surface as Batman would curl a free arm around his companion’s shoulders. He’d pull him close and brush a kiss on his forehead, his lips slightly catching on his partner’s mask before inhaling the strange scent of some citrus-strawberry shampoo as the wind took higher flight momentarily and pushed the onyx locks up and around his face, unfairly trying to smother him with his partner’s very existence. 

Hell, Dick had seen it all in Bruce’s eyes that evening and it was horribly sweet and absolutely perfect for them.

Barbara.

He knew he would have to face her eventually and he declined the invitation with an open mouth kiss to Bruce’s lips, chin and throat. He had to get this over with.  
He chose this-he reminded himself. It was why he was spending his evening staring at a redheaded, tear streaked face that he had cared for in the past. In a way it was very ironic as she immediately erupted into accusations, rants, insults and started throwing some things at him as he honestly let most of the words roll off of him. There was no point in explaining it all out, no point to the very words she growled and yelled. Maybe he should have been mad himself. After all...there was the truth of the whole thing between them. It was almost funny, in the past when Batgirl would walk by him and a group of his friends would throw him a wink or nudge him with an elbow. He had always laughed…not at what they hinted at but at the incredulous ludicrousness of it all.

Robin and Batgirl. He thought over the words as he sidestepped a flying keyboard that continued its flight out the window of the clock tower. He guessed it sounded good in a way. In another way it was just horribly cliché. The two protégés of Batman getting together? It was like Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Their lives weren’t Disney though so perhaps that was why?

He dodged the computer monitor next; it bounced off the edge of the window and crashed to the floor in a pile of metalloids and plastics. He stared at it, for too long apparently, and felt the computer mouse bounce off of his chest. He was suited up, but had removed his mask as he had wanted to do this as all that he was. 

Words of her rant leaked through occasionally to his mind. She certainly had the redheaded temper.

“…abandon me!…left…Batman…Gotham!…others…played me!…made me think…real…always felt!…”

In a way Barbara was just as bad as his friends with these assumptions. Had she hypnotized herself into this?

After a few thrown chairs ten minutes later, much like usual blazes, the fire died down and now Barbara was just crying silently but she somehow still had a clear enough voice to say them. Them. Every freaking assumption everyone on their plane of existence had. 

They had loved each other since the beginning. FALSE

They had been together before he left. FALSE

He had left her. FALSE

He had run off to start a life on his own. FALSE

He was in love with her. FALSE

“Barbara,” Dick finally breathed when silence finally stretched out before him 

“How could you do this to me…to US?” she practically spat.

In the back of his mind, Dick thought that he should have been angry but he couldn’t bring himself to feel it. There was just too much…pity. For who or what he wasn’t certain. 

“Barbara, when was there ever an US? Let me speak!” he insisted as she opened her mouth for more yelling.

“Come on Babs, let’s turn back the real clock here. Not this fantasy everyone has created that makes us out to be the perfect, loving couple when we both know it’s clearly a lie of fanfare. You were one of my partners…out there.”

He tilted his head to the open window behind him as he side stepped the crushed monitor and leaned back against the nearby wall. 

“We were fellow crime fighters out there. That’s true and you’re very pretty but let’s erase the illusion everyone’s decided to believe.”

“There’s no-”

“Barbara you were NEVER in love with me. You never loved Robin and you never loved Dick Grayson.”

“You bastard-”

“Who did you love?”

“I lo-”

“Don’t lie Babs, it only hurts everyone involved here. Who did you love?”

“Not true I-”

“Stop lying. Say it.”

“Dick I didn’t-”

“Say it.”

Barbara’s blue eyes were wide and she slumped back in her wheelchair as her hands rose to her face to hide her away. 

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Say it Babs. We’ll be here all night.”

Her lips were trembling, “I…”

“Babs?”

“B-Batman.”

Yes! The truth! The fact! There it was!

Her arrival in Gotham so many years ago, the Batgirl suit-for Batman, going after criminals-for Batman, ballet/police fighting-for Batman, learning and using detective skills-for Batman. At first, Dick had swept it all from his mind that maybe she was just looking upon Batman as a mentor but she pushed her way in, blazing in the field like the hair that cradled her cute face. She got really close, close enough that it was obviously more than mentorship blazing in her eyes. Those eyes of blue ice peering between the bookshelves in her father’s office. Those same eyes raking over the Dark Knight’s very form during a meeting with the commissioner. For a short time, Dick thought that maybe the closeness had just developed something paternal but then…that night. That night had given him all of the answers that would continue to haunt his mind until it drove him away.

“Let’s sort through all of this Babs. That night-”

“You left me-”

“Mm…nope.”

“Yes you-”

“Barbara I told you. I told you that I was leaving, I was going to start my own life and I remember standing before you with a lot of dreams. A house, 2.5 kids, white picket fence. All that dreamy-romance-good stuff people secretly always imagine. I wanted us to start a life together and what did you say?”

“I-”

Dick breathed a sigh and turned to stare out the window and up into the night sky. No stars here. Too much light pollution for Gotham City to really even bother or care anymore. 

“If you had said, ‘I can’t leave Gotham City’ or ‘I can’t leave my Father’ I wouldn’t be bringing it up at all but what did you say?”

“I can’t leave…”

“Batman,” Dick finished. 

It wasn’t that he couldn’t look at her. Barbara was pretty easy to look at after all. There was no reason to be in denial that she was a beautiful woman. Funny, how it was rather like insects in nature. Bright striking colors spelled out danger, yet the human eye was drawn to them instantly. Instant Interest. Not love-but a curiosity.  
And all of it was true. The review and realization of their actual (non-fan-fare) relationship had floored Dick last year and now…it was doing the same to Barbara. Hm, self-awareness really was a bitch. 

“As for the others…Kori I assume is the base of your argument. Well, what was I supposed to do? I let you think about it for so long. I know it because I counted every day  
of it. Looking for a letter or a call that you would give us a try. Waiting. Kept waiting.”

Silence for a breath and-

“I moved on. I fell in love with other people. I couldn’t wait while you took nearly a year to decide to give me a single date, a single chance. I wasn’t going to. So I told myself to move on and I did.”

“You’re right back in Gotham though,” Barbara said softly, her voice harsh as her hands dropped from her face and into her lap. 

“For Batman…and for Bruce…heh…so I guess that doesn’t make us that much different then.”

…and wasn’t that a weird thought?

“Let’s both face this Barbara: when you arrived here you were in love with Batman, never with me and the one time I brought up the possibility of us you left me. Left me to wonder every day…hearing nothing. Then, you came marching back into my life as if I was supposed to forget all that time of pain and abandon everything I had built for you.”

More silence.

“I would have. That’s scary Babs. I would have.”

“…and now?”

There was a bit of hope there and he HAD to crush it. Dick was foolish for thinking anything could have come from this. Anything real outside of their job, anything…everlasting. Barbara’s interest upon her Gotham City arrival had been towards Batman, not Robin. She had become Batgirl-for Batman. It was years before her and Dick had tried a relationship and by the time she had made up her mind-he had moved on. It was the simple fact that Barbara’s and his relationship that everyone liked to coo about simply did not exist-it never had. 

She was beautiful. Blue-eyes and red hair, one of the rarest combinations in the human gene pool. And intelligent. She never had to study for anything. And strong. Martial Arts came easy to her. Skilled at everything she’d ever done. 

…except the ability to see past her glorified Batgirl cowl. 

“I’m in love with Bruce and you’re going to have to accept it-accept that I’m NOT in love with you. We never were and we never will be. This…relationship of ours has always been falling apart, it’s like we built it on a mountain of gelatin.”

Barbara was crying again and turning away from him. He hadn’t meant to make either of them cry this night but he had dubbed it inevitable when he had agreed to this meeting. 

“Get out.” Barbara grumbled; her head bent over her desk.

Dick turned his body towards the window, his left hand disappearing momentarily into the compartment on his right arm to retrieve his mask. He took time applying it though, keeping the lenses up before stepping up on the windowsill and aiming his grapple at a nearby building. He stopped for a moment though and glanced back at the woman alone in the dark shadows of the ivory clock tower. 

The parallels here were borderline insane. 

He was looking at a very young, very new Bruce Wayne.

…

A few hours later Nightwing sat on the edge of the rooftop of a nearby bridal shop, staring up at the tower he had departed earlier. Maybe he could have removed the binoculars from his right leg utility compartment to get a better idea of what his teen-hood friend (he hadn’t met her until he was 16 after all and maybe in another time he could have said ex-girlfriend or lover) was up to. He had overlooked the street below, found some of the remains of the keyboard and tossed them away in a nearby trash bin before taking up his current vintage point. In a way he was angry at himself even if the truth was now in the open. It was just the fact though. Even looking back at it now, he did find himself confused at the fanfare. He and Barbara? Where had that even come from? Barbara’s whole ‘Batgirl’ role had been to impress Bruce not Dick. The city’s new 25 year old librarian had had the lovey-dovey eyes for Batman that entire time and then borderline broke Dick’s heart that one night. Hell! Barbara had admitted it to his face that she liked Bruce and not him. So anything that might have been between them prior to that…had been a young woman…having fun…by manipulating a guy’s feelings.

…only to turn around and try to sleep with his mentor.

Hmm…some food for thought-that was.

Then again-here he was the one actually dating-!

Nightwing tore his masked eyes away from the distant light of the clock tower, put away the binoculars and glanced down towards the open air below his feet. Staying here did him no good and it was one of those quiet nights. Maybe if there was somewhere he felt like going to?

Swish!

-It was cliché. Horribly cliché. Of the highest degree of cliché. 

The city’s wind picked up slightly and he heard a familiar rustle. Nightwing held his breath as dark cloth flew up and around him before even more familiar gloved hands found anchors along his body. One settled over the armor bracing his clavicle while the other detoured a sweep through his hair before descending and settling itself on his right knee.

“I thought you had bots to test?”

“Damian insisted.”

Breath ghosted over the back of his neck and boy wasn’t that its own cliché? 

“Was that wise boss?”

Batman leaned forward and turned his head into his partner’s hair. It wasn’t what he had planned for the evening but hey-he’d get it where he could!

“He mentioned picking up Kara. Is there something there I should know about?”

“He’s just a little kid with a harml-well…crush.”

Yes, he had stopped the words because…it wasn’t always harmless. Hadn’t this night proven that? He was definitely off his game.

Of course mind reader that he was, Batman appeared to have guessed this because he was moving his hands to Nightwing’s chest and pulling him back to press them together in a gesture of distracting comfort.

Maybe, this was it. This was the answer, the solution. This. In the future when Barbara found someone that could and would tempt her to remove the cowl of the past because he certainly hadn’t been the one to manage it-

…and Dick decided he was really out of it because he swore that all he did was blink and suddenly he was on his feet being spun into his partner’s arms, kissed breathless and pulled into Batman’s chest as those gloved hands settled themselves on his hips. Hmm, maybe a lot of people just had a bone fetish?

Batman’s eyes were open and the lenses were up as he pulled out of the kiss and then stared down at the younger man before him. The city was quiet, they wouldn’t be getting any calls from Oracle obviously, the JLA wouldn’t be contacting him until Friday and Damian was off testing the new search-bots with Supergirl for company/protection. Alfred, Cassandra and Tim were back at the Manor though but- Bruce did have a safe house nearby with…supplies.

“Busy?” Batman tilted his head to breathe the question into Nightwing’s ear and yeah-he meant that to be completely sensual!

Thankfully he had not trained an oblivious partner as the younger vigilante reached up to raise the lenses in his own mask. Secretly, Bruce enjoyed this: only their eyes meeting as if the duo’s gazes could surpass all the pain, joy, loss and gain that came attached to their uniforms and masks.

“No,” Dick whispered back.

They both let some invisible rhythm guide them towards the hidden bunker beneath a setback toy store on Northbond Avenue.

Bruce spent the remainder of evening 

… Making Dick forget about Barbara Gordon.

**********************

* * *

The other interactions went…sporadically. Especially where Batman was concerned. 

Jason. His biggest failure.

Bruce had to be the one to tell him, he assured himself. There were no two ways about that. The only problem he foresaw was actually what occurred though. Jason Todd was immediately on-well The Red Hood was immediately in point blank shooting range of Batman’s face. The red helmet, though there, didn’t (in any way) manage to block out the power behind the snarl that was definitely on his face. Even through violent fights and interactions Jason did still consider Dick family and his true unstable connection was with Bruce. 

Not to mention he was naturally a hot head who could jump to conclusions. His first, immediate worry was for the acrobat or more precisely-the child acrobat of the past. He would be having a confrontation with Nightwing later. 

And he was yelling- a lot. Red heads, always having a fire-temper to match their hair!

Because if Bruce had fucking laid his hands on Dick as a child Jason was going to do more than shoot a few bullets down the Bat’s throat and through his gut! In fact, he’d forget the bullets. He had a bunker nearby no one knew about with ropes, chains and a whole bunch of knives and drills! No one fucked with kids in Jason’s presence, even if it was years ago! If Bruce had, he was going to have to have his face reconstructed and was going to lose a lot of feeling in his lower body!  
It was easily the hardest fight in Batman’s life, given that he had to talk and calm down the one he was fighting. Not usually his style. 

Bruce walked away with many things, some arm and chest lacerations, a number of bruises, two soft shell bullets stuck into the bat symbol on his chest, a sprained wrist and a promise that he would hear from Jason again. He was going to talk to quite a few people that would KNOW-

…and he’d get back to him.

* * *

Cassandra Cain. Assassin extraordinaire.

Dick had opted for informing Cass. Their relationship had NEVER been great. The two had had their moments but it was overall just tense at its best. Not to say that he hadn’t tried. The one time Cassandra had mentioned that she didn’t know the story of Cinderella Dick had taken it upon himself to borderline embarrass himself in front of the family to act out the entire classic fairy tale.

Then there was the tension when she was yet another person that had barely been in Bruce’s life for a short time and immediately was offered a place by him into the family. So Dick’s anger hadn’t exactly been at Cassandra directly, she had unfortunately just been there. Dick had spent years just wondering if maybe that he was just too light to be considered important to Batman’s dark view of the world. Maybe if he was more like Cass or Jay: dark, sharp and brutal-he would have had a shot at a place in the family. Maybe. 

But hell, Bruce’s confession had turned every day of those wonderings on their head. So, in a way, this was more than a confession for Dick-it was also an apology and a gesture of willingness to…try again. 

Cassandra-was forgiving. Undeservingly Forgiving.

And when Dick opened his arms, not expecting any returning gesture, she slipped inside of them to return the hug. She informed him that Stephanie had been mentoring her in social interaction as of late and was this an ‘OK’ hug? He was after all, the expert at this. That, made him laugh and hold her a bit tighter before he said yes-it was a good hug.

It was only but moments after that that Cassandra, thinking over what she did know of her foster father, probably spoke the most important words over the expanse of the month.

“You are more – different to him than us. He loves us all but-you are…special. If he had…it would have been less….too little. Not enough for you.”

She got another hug that night and, from Dick’s reaction, was positive that she could pass the pop quizzes in social interaction she would be given the next day. 

As for her feelings toward the news, she was indeed confused but she promised herself that she would research the situation. History records and modern observation being the basis…after tomorrow’s pop quiz. As for the duo, if they were happy and still the same people she didn’t think there was a problem.

* * *

Tim. The tech-teen-Titan-genius for the titanium times. 

Bruce had taken this interaction, mostly because he didn’t want to see what Damian thought. 

“Oh my god!”

…Perhaps he should have rethought that decision.

“Tim it-“

“I am traumatized forever!”

“Listen we have to-”

“Please I don’t want to hear this!”

Bruce stopped and straightened his posture, his inner Alfred-voice reminding him of how good posture can affect an argument. At the same time though-his inner calm had fallen away. He knew this would be a big shock for Tim. The boy had always taken everything so calmly throughout his life. Perhaps it was too much to ask of him now? 

“…Tim…”

“Bruce, one of my favorite of all time heroes since childhood just admitted to having sexual relations with his crime fighting partner. Give me a minute! I mean, I know what gossip columns said but-eh…”

“We’re not-”

“Don’t give me details! I don’t want to know!”

“Tim!”

“Look if you’re happy-it’s all good. Just spare me details. I beg of you.”

“…alright then. Compromise.”

Tim nodded sharply. “Compromise. Now, can we please get back to the rogue Babylon hiding out on Southeast Street?

“…Sure.”

* * *

Damian. It always was another story with the little aristocratic prince and though Dick was certain that Damian would handle the news maturely-he hadn’t expected a hug!

“Thank you. Father’s not the same without you here and I’m grateful that you are competent.”

“Uh…thanks?” Dick did take the advantage to wrap his arms around the child and squeeze him into the hug a bit tighter than usual. “Thank you Damian. Your acceptance…means a lot to Bruce and me both. Thank you so much.”

The boy pulled out of the hug and narrowed his eyes in determination as he spoke, “Anyone you need taken care of? Vale? Mason? Ferris?”

Dick laughed at the thought that the kid would take out the reporters who were likely to take offense to the announcement. 

“No need Damian. We’ll deal with them in time.”

“Very well,” Damian said before reaching into his pocket and extracting a notebook and pen.

What the-?

He clicked the pen and displayed his business face as he spoke, “Now, how many dates have there been? When and where have they been? Have you been sexually intimate yet? If so-how frequently?”

“Dami!”

He began writing quickly.

“What are your and father’s plans for press release? Who should I be watching that could pose a threat? Do I need to burn down any buildings? Does anyone need to be silenced? What security measures will I need to request Alfred put in place for the immediate future? What are your long term plans with Father?”

“I uh-”

“Will we see Nightwing and Batman together near the same time? What alibis will we need to set up? Perhaps a party to draw in a thief or two? The Martian would do well I believe? Or even Kent? What are your plans concerning your teams? Will Father require a portable force field?”

“DAMIAN!” 

The boy stopped writing and glanced up with a-“Hm?”

Dick couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

“We’re going to deal with all of that in time.”

Damian rolled his eyes clockwise and looked back down at the notebook where he immediately crossed out a few lines before speaking.

“What is Father’s immediate plan?”

The man felt heat rise to his cheeks as he answered, “We’ve been on a few lunch dates but the only one who ever suspected and got a picture was a drunken truck driver at an off roads diner who sold the picture to the National Inquirer. No one believed it until now.”

The child snorted out a, “So?”

“So, Bruce is taking me to Henry’s Habit tonight. I think I’ve convinced Bruce to let Clark have the story-if he wants it.”

_If the League…well whatever they end up doing._

It was kind of funny how wide Damian’s eyes grew at that statement before he physically shook away the shock and composed his visage and posture. 

A deep breath and, “Isn’t that place known for its wine and…back rooms?”

Dick’s blush grew darker as he quietly answered, “Yeah, but I like their fruit and cheese platters.”

The child rolled his eyes again (counterclockwise this time) before huffing a sighed out, “Of course you would go for the food-”

“I like the wine too!” Dick protested.

Damian actually let out a full body laugh this time and with a smile to boot! Even if it was all still maniacal-looking. Before he lifted an inquiring eyebrow anyway. “… and the rooms?”

Dick shrugged and said, “Whatever Bruce wants.”

And that had apparently been the WRONG thing to say because Damian suddenly tensed, reared up, glared and scowled the deepest he could manage. Dick blinked twice, unsure of what had caused the 180 but before he could utter another word Damian was turning and stomping out his bedroom door-yelling for his Father so they could have a ‘discussion!’

Later _Henry’s Habit_ ended up being cut out of their Thursday plans because Bruce spent most of the day and night trying to get off a shock collar that he had no explanation for no matter who inquired. Damian and Alfred were strangely the two to NOT ask though, so Dick didn’t put much more effort into his inquiry figuring it was one for ‘those higher powers’ in his life to know exclusively.

* * *

It was finally Friday.

They were going downhill. There were no two ways about it but what the League did on this night would set a precedent for everyone else. 

Nightwing arrived up on the rooftop of Wayne Tower at 7:00pm. Showing up early was definitely NOT his usual but he knew Batman would already be there. And he was, at present, tinkering with the wires inside of a security camera when his partner retracted his grapple.

“Hey.”

Batman looked up, his eyes wide behind the lenses of his mask and stunned silent for a long minute before regaining his voice.

“You’re early...an hour early.”

Nightwing smirked through the sentence as he made his way across the rooftop, “Yeah, must be your influence.”

The funny thing was that it all moved very slowly. Batman let the camera drop from his hands to the rooftop, telling himself that he’d just build a better one later, and slipped his handheld soldering iron back into his utility belt. He stepped back and leaned against the wall that made up one side of Wayne Tower’s rooftop access stairwell before reaching out to grasp his partner’s hands and pull him close. Not so close that they would be touching beyond their intertwined fingers but close enough the invitation was clearly open. They had an hour after all and besides-if things were…drastic his resources were well-stocked in his office just below their feet and he might have just finished an emergency drop rooftop panel installation earlier. Still, remain by the rooftop access and give the illusion that he would turn to it to fool the League. It all worked. Besides he didn’t mind this and it would be even better if-

…yes.

For Nightwing, cheeks warm, he read it all too easily. The duo was holding hands but Batman wasn’t going to press beyond this. A last minute chance perhaps? Then again, even if it was an offered escape again it was inevitable given their confrontations with their family the past few days. They were doing this. Really doing this! No going back at this point. Well, the last actual possible turn around had probably been Crime Alley. Because Dick could have NOT dropped down into the alley. Could have just remained on the side building’s rooftop and kept watch.

Could have. 

-Didn’t.

Nightwing was careful though, moving his hands through the grip he and his partner were sharing to slide his fingers along Batman’s forearms while he simultaneously pushed the arms apart. Taking just a quick breath he stepped forward back into that ‘special place’ and experimentally leaned forward, tilting his head sideways to press his cheek against the side edge of the cowl. All good. Next, another experiment of bringing up and twisting his leg inward to press his armored kneecap into the bend of Batman’s. Then, he took a dive. He took a deep breath before pushing his entire body forward to press it against his…Boyfriend? Lover?

Oh who cared about the label?

IT-was just IT.

Vague but perfect. 

And 100% just them.

A breath against stubble made Batman moan because…here they were. 

“The Museum?”

“I need to be back on Monday.”

“-And?”

Nightwing pulled back and rolled his eyes as his hands traveled the path of the bend of his partner’s elbows to hold him still and allow the Bat’s gauntlets to settle on his waist.

“-and I activated the Breech program to send an e-mail if anything HAS to happen.”

“Good.”

Again, it was weird. Batman saying something so stoutly with little emotion behind it before bending his head forward to press his lips to his partner’s mouth. He loved counting the victory when Nightwing or Dick Grayson would release all of the tension from his muscles and lean in-letting the other support his weight. It was physically…delicious. And it let Bruce think. He’d already activated his contingency plans. LE: 38 for their hero identities and LE: 40 for their civilian identities. He wasn’t stupid after all. Why else would the League choose Wayne Tower? It wasn’t the fact that he had more than enough hidden blackmail and secrets on the League but-he felt threatened and what else was a being supposed to do but give into the primal urge of survival and to protect his own?

Primal urges. He took hold of another with a quick movement, raising his right hand from Nightwing’s grasp to slowly edge a fingertip around the shell of his ear. The body against his trembled and sweet breath fogged over his lips in response. There was a clear distinct smell and taste of mint and blueberries that he took full advantage of, parting his lips and pushing out his tongue to lick at his partner’s mouth. One of his weaknesses that his partner knew-that made the situation worrying. 

And maybe he doubted the effectiveness of his technique. Not that there had been anything wrong with his coffee but-

“Bulgarian Dark Roast?” Nightwing with a gasp as Batman’s tongue slid along his upper lip. 

If he could just-

But his partner pulled back and breathed deeply.

“Good work.”

Again, lack of an ability to raise a confused eyebrow but still. For Dick, he wanted to say it but he didn’t. Just let the thought linger in the air around them.

A compliment for identifying Bruce’s last cup of coffee?

He mentally shrugged-OK then! He was dating Batman he was fully prepared for the weird. And then he promptly lost that train of thought when Batman’s gloved fingertips were brushing along the side of his ear again. Another tremble and he tried to get his mind back in order. 

He did! 

…Managed a bit of it at least. A small victory where he was concerned because-

“I’ve-got a question.”

Batman froze. Questions? He hated questions. It meant things weren’t clear. That things weren’t known between them. That-his partner doubted…doubted HIM. And it hurt. And when it hurt there was sorrow. And they came out two different ways. Sorrow-abandonment or angry-arguments. 

He wasn’t sure which would be worse to face after all of this.

Less than hour. No time for a dinner. Still in uniform. Nothing public could be done. 

“Please…don’t,” Batman reached up to grasp his companion by the sides of his head and crushed their lips together.

The hands on his shoulders pushed. More pushed his companion away than pushed him anywhere given the wall at his back.

“Boss what-?”

“I love you.”

Nightwing blinked behind his mask and then smiled.

“I know Silly. It’s just a question. I’m not going anywhere.”

Batman unknowingly breathed a giant sigh of relief which, when he had realigned his gaze with Nightwing, had made the younger man frown.

That was bad.

“Boss, are you afraid…of me leaving you?”

Because it was ridiculous! Who would leave this? 

Batman glared. Straight up glared at him! “You have NO IDEA how dangerous you are.”

More blinking. Oh boy he was doing that a lot lately. Nightwing shook his head in a physical effort to wipe the psychological impact of the words from his mind and then opened his mouth to say…something. 

-But it was suddenly busy fielding the melding of his companion’s lips and tongue. OK he needed to reassure Batman and-how the hell did it come to this?

Never mind that he was kissing his mentor! Never mind that he was kissing the god damn Batman! Never mind that the two of them were actively pursuing a relationship!

Yeah never mind all of that!

Because he had to reassure Batman, and he guessed Bruce Wayne as well, that he wasn’t leaving him; in either life. Nightwing and Dick Grayson were going nowhere-to no one else. That’s just the way it was. He forced himself away from the desperate kiss.

“I’m NOT leaving you.”

The Dark Knight raised his head and brushed a kiss over his partner’s forehead.

“Your question? And I swear if you ask me what we’re doing-”

Nightwing laughed and said, “No. I’ve pretty much got that figured out. It’s just…”

He trailed off for a moment before biting his lip for an additional moment and then continuing.

“What’s your plan?”

Batman raised an eyebrow beneath his cowl and breathed out, “Plan?”

“For this,” Nightwing clarified, freeing a hand from Batman’s shoulder to draw it along the side of his chin, “US?”

“I thought it was obvious.”

“I meant the future. If you’re prepared to tell the League-”

“-And the world.”

“Right. The world. It means that this is going to last…a long time.”

“Is this a doubt? Do you want out?”

“No, stop asking me that! I’m here aren’t I?”

“Yes.”

Another forceful kiss.

“I love you.”

“Bruce-”

“Don’t risk-”

“You don’t need to keep saying it. I love you too.”

Batman sucked in a breath and pulled Nightwing into a sharp, strong, unyielding embrace, wrapping him up in his arms like a beloved gift. “Thank you.”

“Boss, it sounds an awful lot like YOU are the one with doubts and if you’re doubting then this can’t be a real relationship-”

“I don’t doubt anything! I only-don’t want to make you HAVE to go through this all. You have a basic idea about what’s going to happen but I’ve-”

“Been through all possibilities and made up all of these contingency plans?”

“Yes, but you have to be committed-”

Dick pulled back enough to look his companion straight in the eyes. “I AM committed to you, Boss. To US…I always have been.”

“I just-”

“Wait. Is that it? It’s not you doubting me it’s your disbelief that anyone would willing stay with you isn’t it?”

Silence. Nightwing believes he actually hears a cricket chirp somewhere on the rooftop with them.

“……what do you want me to say Nightwing?”

Nightwing shook his head and smiled ruefully. “Don’t bother saying anything Batman. Just kiss me.”

And he did.

* * *

The League caught them. 

…

Well, caught them cuddling on the edge of the rooftop anyway about half an hour later but still. Hal Jordon’s glowing ring caught their attention immediately as the group descended from above. Bruce hated that, it was as if they saw themselves as some kind of Gods. Hal Jordon looked strangely happy, Martian Manhunter was floating off to the side looking 20 kinds of awkward, Wonder Woman was clearly angry with her arms crossed over her chest and Hawkman’s hammer was already sparking as he scowled and glared. A red blur glinted from about a mile away before a nervous-looking Flash was fidgeting and standing at the furthest possible point of the rooftop. Superman, the big blue Boy Scout, had appeared behind the duo though and the open door on the rooftop access stairwell behind him proved that he had entered a lower level and climbed the stairs.

And that somehow pissed off Bruce even more because…

Damn it! Why was Superman being polite?

His thoughts left as Nightwing leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

“Someone let Bats read The Tale of Genji, didn't they?”

Batman and Nightwing looked off to the side to see Green Arrow hoisting himself up over the side of the rooftop. Batman just glared at him before reaching out to bring his partner into a kiss. He liked pretending that they weren’t there!

“Enough. We need to speak with you,” Wonder Woman said.

Both men sighed and broke their kiss. Nightwing got to his feet first and held out a hand to his partner-who surprised everyone by taking it and being pulled to his feet.

“You all talk to Nightwing-we get the Bat.”

“Titans,” Batman deadpanned.

Nightwing spotted the three figures suddenly standing behind Wally, who was still teetering as close to the opposite rooftop edge as physically possible. It was little surprise that the Titans were a weird reflection of the League as Garth had stepped off to one side looking like being there was the last thing he wanted. But, as expected, Arsenal and Troia looked livid-the archer more than the amazon did, but both could be equally dangerous.

Nightwing smirked and whispered, “Don’t get impaled.”

Batman glared back; mentally yelling: DON’T YOU **DARE** GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS!

They dropped their joined handhold and Nightwing was swept off of the rooftop by a platform of green light that materialized beneath his feet. Really, dragging him up to a great height was their plan?

He distantly spotted Donna’s silver lasso ensnaring Batman as the distance between he and the rooftop increased and he mentally sent his partner a sympathetic smile. Until, that is, he and the League stopped ascending some 150 feet above Wayne Tower and Diana’s golden lasso was suddenly around him. He gritted his teeth against the feeling of irritation. He didn’t care how many artists liked drawing his hero persona being bound-he did NOT enjoy it! Thankfully Diana seemed to have a better hold on her emotions because the lasso wasn’t tightly binding him really-just hanging loosely about his shoulders. Still she looked pretty...um frustrated. He'd go with frustrated. She looked like she needed to say something but whatever it was, couldn't be said here for some reason. Her eyes kept drifting downward. 

Nightwing understood the procedure though. Lasso of Truth and all. It was the best way they could be certain.

Superman ascended after the group and smiled at him. All support strangely. Martian Manhunter was floating off to the side, still 20 kinds of awkward like he didn’t quite understand what was occurring while levitating Green Arrow, who was looking down at the empty space beneath his feet, bemused. Maybe he was imagining what Arsenal was doing to Batman? And Hal Jordon was still smiling at Nightwing. It was getting downright creepy for him!

Wonder Woman began, her voice tight and controlled.

“We have questions Nightwing.”

He shrugged his shoulders beneath the draped rope. “Go ahead.”

And the questions began:

“When did this start?”  
“Could you be more specific?”  
“When did the both of you begin this relationship?”  
“October 31st.”

“Did Bruce show any romantic or sexual interest prior to that date?”  
“He confessed to me on October 1st.”

“How did that happen?”  
“Oh-you know him. Strapped me to a chair in the Batcave-”  
Gasps.  
“-then confessed and kissed me.”  
“Dick, he had no right to-”  
“He was scared that I was going to punch him and I could have gotten out of the restraints if I needed to.”

“What about sexual advancements?”  
“None.”  
“What?”  
“It’s true. He won’t do much more than kiss me.”

“He’s touched you though?”  
“Obviously.”  
“Has he ever touched you-?”  
“-Nowhere I didn’t want him to.”

“So, no sexual interactions?”  
“Nope.”

“How many dates have you had?”  
“Five.”

“The picture in The Inquirer?”  
“Date number 3. We stopped at a diner after finishing our investigation in Tebel.”

“Tebel?”  
“A small African country Batman was concerned about. It used to be the north western tip of Somalia until locals decided to claim their land beyond the Silil River as their own nation. Apparently there’d been a radiation leak in a factory there a few months previously. The radiation finally fell to tolerable levels and made the area viable to exploration. Batman picked up a few radio signals coming from beneath some of the towns and villages when he ran a satellite scan and thought there might have been some survivors in underground bunkers.”  
“....and?”  
“There was. We got them out, alerted the military and got them across the nearest country line which was Djibouti. Batman has the details if you want them.”

Blinks.

“Any more questions?”  
“Do you love him?”  
“Yep. Are we done?”  
“No.”  
Sigh.

“What about that mark on your neck?”  
“Mark?”  
Oh yeah, a million types of vision. Thanks Superman!  
“Oh that’s from one of Tebel’s Giant Mutated Moths.”  
“Giant…Mutated…Moths?”  
“Well previous to the radiation leak in the factory there they’d just been basic brown spotted moths that inhabited the area but then-freaky mutation! Now they have developed fangs and poison to boot.”

“…Some of those marks are human teeth.”  
“Batman had to get the poison out. I’m fine before any of you ask! The Justice Society are rounding the moths up and Batman already has an antidote developed.”

“…Dick-what we’re most worried about is if Bruce ever…when you were a child…”  
“No. He never did.”

“Well…now what? What’s his plan?”  
Shrug. “Dates I guess. See if we work out.”  
“…did he ever-”

“Enough everyone. We have our answers. Let’s get him back to his partner.” Dick smiled as the Lasso of Truth was raised off of his shoulders. 

“Thanks Clark.”

* * *

For however long Nightwing’s questioning with the Justice League had taken, The Titans’ questioning of Batman had apparently been less through and a lot more…physical, as the Bat was sporting a very obvious bruise on his left cheek upon he and the League’s return.

“Arsenal!” Nightwing yelled as the green light platform disappeared beneath his feet and he dropped the last 14 inches to the ground-err rooftop of Wayne Tower as the League followed his descent. 

Said red clad archer threw up his hands, his left clutching his bow.

“Why are you assuming I did it?”

“Deductive reasoning. Flash and Tempest wouldn’t have done it and if Troia had done it she would have broken his face.”

“Not for lack of wanting to,” Troia muttered.

“Easy Donna,” Tempest said, taking a few steps and risking placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her.

Nightwing shook his head and strolled over to his partner, reaching up to skirt the edge of the bruise with his gloved fingertips. Batman simply closed his eyes, mouth still drawn down into his characteristic frown. Well, no doubt he would be keeping that up to be ‘professional’ during their work. Dick found that he could live with that. It meant he didn’t have to do anything much different either! He was just about to move in for a kiss when a sudden blur of red in the corner of his eye brought his attention to the speedster now in front of them. While Tempest still projected that he was mirroring Martian Manhunter’s 20-kinds-of-awkward Flash had gone from staying as far away as possible to apparently gathering his nerves and confronting them. 

Batman opened his eyes and aligned his gaze with Flash as well. He respected Wally for this. He really did. He’d shot forward and decided to confront both of them face-to-face. Respect. No teammates between them, no isolating-just them.

“Listen guys. Um…”

He was still apparently having trouble with words even though he had straightened his posture and cleared his throat. He bit his lip and then blur-pointed at Batman.

“I was friends with Dick first so hurt him-I’ll hurt you. I’m a Titan before I’m a Leaguer. Second!”

He pointed at Nightwing. 

“As awkward as this is, if you’re doing this make sure that you’re happy. You’re first but Bats is kind of my teammate now too so…”

Nightwing tilted his head but smiled ruefully before speaking. “Don’t hurt him because you care about ALL of your teammates?”

Flash clapped his hands together, hissed under his breath and looked sideways, “…yeah.”

Dick dropped his hand from his partner’s cheek and stepped sideways to bring his friend into a hug. “Thanks Wally.”

The speedster’s arms encircled him and then there was an intake of breath before there were more arms around him. He felt the power under Amazonian muscle, the chill of his Archer’s robotic arm and the coolness of Atlantean skin.

“Thanks Titans.”

“If he hurts you,” Troia muttered in his ear.  
“I’ll let you all know, Donna.”

Flash shifted to whisper, “Be careful, you have no idea the awkward position this puts me in with the Titans and the League.”  
“I’ll try not to cause you trouble Wally.”

“Be safe?” Tempest suggested.  
Nightwing chuckled, “I will Garth.”

“I will NOT hesitate to impale him, you know? The first sign of trouble you call ME. Got that?”  
“OK. I promise Roy.”

The four Titans unlocked the connection of their limbs, stepped back and then all got wide eyes when Batman stepped between them and their leader to pull him into a kiss, the Bat’s left gauntlet raising to slide fingers into dark follicles as his right settled on his shoulder. 

“This is still weird,” Flash muttered.

Nightwing ignored his team and reached out to wrap his arms around his partner’s waist as he kissed back.

“Alright, I’m gone!” everyone heard Hal say it but most were busy looking elsewhere as he left.

Thankfully, Batman had already gotten pictures of the Lantern earlier, so he would be the one to inquire later about the wide grin on his face. He hadn’t guessed that it would run full circle back on them much later.

Breaking the kiss, Nightwing stepped back and their hands fell away from one another. Batman didn’t deem it enough though, so he reached out and held his partner’s hand. It was enough-for now anyway. It had taken them awhile after all-less time than he had thought it would but this would, no doubt, take some time for the League and Titans. And the others…

Still, it would be fine. They turned their gazes back to the others, who stared for a few moments.

“I have monitor duty,” Wonder Woman said quietly before turning in the air and disappearing into the night sky.

“Let’s go Titans,” Tempest said, trident first edging his friends to the end of the rooftop. 

“Call ME first!” Roy shouted back before the group was throwing themselves off of the edge. 

Martian Manhunter called out a confused, “Congratulations!?”

…before turning invisible to depart the scene. 

Hawkman gave a straight-lined gesture between his eyes and Batman before turning and flying off towards Gotham Bay. 

Green Arrow cleared his throat and continued his past inquiry with, “So-have you read The Tale of Genji Bats?”

Batman glared and Nightwing smirked before saying, “I’m impressed Ollie.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know YOU had read it.”

“HEY!”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Batman growled.

“No, not really.”

“It’s Friday.”

“So?”

“10:00pm.”

“Yeah but…Oh no…”

“Dinah’s waiting for you at _Reynolds_.”

“CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! I’m dead!”

The blonde archer threw himself off of the nearest roof edge and the distant sound of an engine proved he had driven his Arrow-Car to Gotham. Now there was just Superman, who landed in front of the duo with a wide smile.

“So, everything’s good right?”

“I suppose,” Batman said with a confused frown.

What was Clark’s game? This was not the angry alien he had dealt with on the Watchtower!

Nightwing however had seen nothing off and stepped forward to embrace him. Superman had no trouble returning the hug either and as his eyes landed on the Bat, his blue eyes glinted with a sense that was half amusement and half joy. Batman’s confused frown just grew deeper. What was with Clark? Was he hoping for the story? Dick had attempted to convince him during the week that their Kryptonian friend would be the ideal reporter to give the story to and he was readily correct. Clark was…safe to hand information to but at the same time…

“Alright-what the hell is this Clark?”

The acrobat and alien pulled apart and Nightwing blinked in confusion at his mentor. Superman, on the other hand, frowned for but a moment before he smiled adoringly. It was kind of creepy and unnerving. 

“Nothing, I’m happy for the both you. If Dick makes you happy than it’s only…” he frowned again as his eyes shifted for a few moments…searching for the correct term. At last: “Advantageous.” 

Wow. Kent was using big words. Bruce wasn’t certain if it was a bad sign or a good sign.

“What is with you two?” Nightwing asked, holding up a hand at both of them in a mock shrug.

Superman’s expression tightened into one of pure sheepishness as a hand went to the back of his head nervously and he quietly admitted, “I might have been…”

He paused again, searching for the right word.

“…imprudent? When I saw the picture in The Inquirer?”

Batman grunted, “Imprudent? I’ve lost a suit, three sets of internal armor, the programming computer is fried and there are two walls that need to be repaired-no correction-reconstructed in the southeast lab of the Watchtower!”

Superman laughed uneasily before turning his expression and voice to genuine honesty, “And I’m sorry Bruce, about it all.”

Nightwing just sighed out, “You two.”

There was a minute of silence, all three staring awkwardly at one another.

“So…” Superman began.

Bruce just jumped to the point, stepping forward to wrap an arm around his partner, “We’re going out to dinner tomorrow evening at _Lorena’s_ if you want pictures. That’ll start everything. We’ll be having another dinner in New York on Sunday at _Del Frisco’s_ and if Clark Kent’s in the city he’s invited for an interview.”

Clark grinned wide and almost yelped, “This is so going to make my career and Lois is going to be so jealous.”

Nightwing smirked and suggested, “You better bring her along or you might end up on the couch.”

“Eh, good point. What time?”

“ _Lorena’s_ at 10:00. _Del Frisco’s_ at 11:30,” Batman said.

“Great!”

“So you took my suggestion?” Nightwing asked his partner.

Batman shrugged. “ _Del Frisco’s_ had good reviews.”

“I love you,” Dick said softly, leaning in to peck his partner on the mouth.

Batman will forever deny that he blushed. Superman will forever claim there’s no fooling his super-photographic memory though.

“Well, evening Batman, Nightwing.”

Swish!

And with that the last of the groups were gone. Batman first and foremost reached up to his commlink, opening the connection to the computer. “LE: 38. LE: 40. Deactivate.”

An answering buzz feedback assured him that the contingency plans had been terminated. At his side, Nightwing copied his movements except with an order to end the Breech Program back at his own computer.

“Well, that went much better than I expected,” Batman muttered.

Nightwing chuckled and pulled his partner in for another kiss, accidentally brushing the bruise on his cheek. He immediately backed up and fingered the edge of the abrasion again before a smile spread across his face. 

“Let’s go home; I’ll put some ointment and ice on that.”

“Hmm…”

“Unless you have something else to do tonight?”

“No.”

With that he turned his partner around and pulled him along as he grappled off of the rooftop.

“Hey! I don't recall requesting you to sweep me off my feet!"

They landed next to the Batmobile below and the Dark Knight shushed his partner by pulling him close, leaning against his car as he conveniently ignored the four pairs of eyes peeking at them from around the edge of Wayne Tower.

The Titans would be…strictly observational of their relationship but-not necessarily a problem. Besides, they were just protecting Dick.

-And that was one thing he would always agree with them on.

* * *

Saturday followed and Bruce was…displaced. Which was unacceptable! He gave himself a mental kick as he pulled back behind _Lorena’s_ into the restaurant’s parking lot and turned to smile at his date-technically? He parked and shut off of the engine. Dick smiled back and then turned to reach for the door handle. Bruce almost insisted that his partner wait and let him get out, circle the vehicle and give him a hand. 

Almost.

But he knew his partner needed his space in some things. Besides, he had another plan anyway. He got out of his own door and they met at the back.

“So, we’re really doing this?” 

Bruce nodded, took a calming glance below at the asphalt and parking lines before looking back up and motioning to the bright lights that lined the sidewalk alongside the building.

“Come on let’s enjoy this. The atmosphere’s a bit more personally friendly here.”

“AKA, you know the owner who is conveniently showing up tonight,” Dick said with a roll of his eyes as he took the first steps forward.

Bruce huffed and followed a few inches behind as he muttered, “Maybe.”

OK. He wasn’t blind. They were far from the easy-going couple in public. For all that fits of passion were easy because one could let go and let them happen. Even private intimacy had been getting easier because it was just them. They could pull themselves back into that comfort they had always radiated in the early days of their crime-fighting Dynamic Duo days. It was proof that it was still there and that even with the extreme jump into a romantic relationship there was still some base line that existed between them that hadn’t faded because of it. 

But then there was this.

This public domesticity was…a whole new level!

When they reached the front corner of the building Bruce took a few rushed steps and reached out to slip his hand into his partner’s. Dick stopped in his tracks and blinked back at him but Bruce was just smirking and pulling him along to the front of the restaurant. They hadn’t announced anything so there was no reason for the area to be swarmed with reporters or photographers. Also, for as much as Bruce Wayne was publicized not everyone called him out on sight. He was hoping for one of those nights and it looked like he would get one. Excellent!

His eyes took in the entrance to Lorena’s which was decorated with a large spider web-style arch over the doorway painted a blank white. The glass doors slid open to their approach and just as they passed across the door line he heard a click and saw the distinct after image of a characteristic flash.

Damn. If it was-

He blinked and Dick was suddenly leaning his head against his own whispering, “Clark.”

So he had showed up then? Bruce didn’t bother looking behind him though, only turned his head to press a kiss to his companion’s cheek. 

“Anyone else?”

Dick shook his head with a cute smile, “Nope.”

For Dick Grayson, his stomach was not exactly flipping as it was sizzling. They were here! In public! Holding hands! Clark had just taken their picture! A picture of them holding hands! It would be in the Daily Planet tomorrow! 

They were together.

Wow! Every time he stepped back from the situation the surrealness of it just hit him with an 18-wheeler!

Bruce’s eyes suddenly flew ahead and Dick followed his gaze. Approaching them was a well-groomed man with bright blonde hair and seriously sapphire colored eyes. He was done up in dress shoes, dark blue steam-pressed trousers and a much-too-tight light blue collared shirt with a white vest over it. He was probably only a few years older than Dick himself he guessed. 

“Bruce, it’s so wonderful to see you again.”

The blonde guy reached out and Bruce met him halfway for a handshake stepping away from Dick only to pull him along.

“And this is?” he asked, motioning to Dick.

Bruce smiled. Weirdly. As it was one of his real smiles. Not one of the Brucie smiles and it almost threw Dick for a loop for a moment or two.

“My partner.”

Dick took the initiative and stepped forward to take the blonde man’s hand in greeting.

“Dick Grayson. Nice to meet you-?“

“Steve Rogers. Your table’s all set. This way please.”

Steve motioned to a small set of stairs to the right side of the restaurant and began walking, the couple following, one smiling in joy and the other frowning in confusion.  
What was-?

“I could hardly believe when you called Mr. Wayne. I swore Natasha and Bucky were playing a joke on me.”

“You know me better than that Steve and you know to call me Bruce.”

“Well it has been quite a few years and it gets confusing when we’ve got more than one Bruce in the same room.”

“How is Dr. Banner doing?

“Much better-ah here we are gentlemen!”

He gestured to a lavishly decorated table. It was a wide plane that had been molded into the shape of a crescent moon surrounded on the outer curve by a pure scarlet cushioned booth. Bruce enjoyed taking in his partner’s slack jawed expression. Steve laughed and waved a goodbye to give the couple some time alone. After all, part of Lorena’s charm was its atmosphere. 

Steve glanced back once just in time to see his two customers had quickly settled themselves in the booth and Bruce Wayne was already pulling Dick’s hand close to tangle their fingers together on the white tabletop. 

Steve HAD to find Bucky and point this out!

Back at the crescent booth Bruce was already brushing a kiss over rough knuckles that made his partner blush a downright adorable hue of pink.

“You’re cute you know that?” Bruce said with a smirk.

Dick shook his head and fought off the blush. Damn it! Bruce and his flirting!

“You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Maybe I like flirting?”

Again, Dick was ready to declare the flirting an integral part of Bruce’s DNA because he was so damn naturally good at it. “You like flirting with me?”

Bruce’s smirk grew a bit more pretentious before he leaned over and brushed his lips over Dick’s ear, which made the younger man tremble and gasp. Darn it! Thin skin, more nerves. Sensitive! Bruce pulled away and dropped his hand before reaching for one of the menus standing up in a stout box at the end of the table. He gave it a general glance and then handed it to his partner. Dick smiled and took it, making sure their fingers brushed. Maybe Bruce blushed-maybe he didn’t. He wouldn’t admit anything!

Besides, he had a point to make as soon as-

“Bruce…there are no prices on this menu.”

“Don’t worry about the price.”

“Bruce. Do we have to go through this again?”

OK. Bad. Very bad. Now Dick was glaring at him. Damage control. Quickly!

“It’s our first public date. Even if Clark’s going to be the one breaking the news tomorrow I have to be seen taking you somewhere nice.”

Dick blinked and sighed. “OK, look I don’t want to have this argument.”

“Then why are you bringing it up?” Bruce growled.

No! He mentally smacked himself. Bad Bruce! Very bad! Bad Bad Bruce!

Dick’s glare melted away into a worried visage and he glanced to the side as silence descended onto them. They wouldn’t be arguing, Dick wasn’t going to try but they had stumbled. Easy flow was over for the night. 

Damn!

Dick went back to the menu, his eyes already doing hidden calculations on what would probably be the cheapest appetizer before one of them would find a reason to leave the other there.

No! Not like this! They had come too far already!

Bruce swiped the menu from Dick’s hands.

“Hey!” he protested but then was cut when Bruce pushed himself sideways in the booth until they were pressed together.

Dick couldn’t even manage a single word more before Bruce’s hands were cupping his face and bringing their lips together, one hand abandoning its current job to slide into his partner’s hair and grip it lightly. He just focused on that, pushing his chest onto Dick’s to tilt the younger man back and then angling his head for a kiss that began hard and still before softening and allowing the meshing to become soft and gentle as their breaths began to sync up. Bruce breathed a sigh of relief against his partner as Dick finally reached up and curled his arms around Bruce’s waist.

They didn’t so much as break the kiss as they took a bit of a retreat, allowing a few inches of space still filled with their breaths and Bruce whispered.

“Don’t do this. We can’t do this!”

“I didn’t plan to argue,” Dick muttered.

Bruce just leaned forward to peck a kiss onto the end of his partner’s nose. Another blush! Score! 

But it wasn’t enough. He needed a catch. A weakness, something that would keep Dick here with him-

“Dick,” he began with a whisper.

-But it couldn’t be Bat-cynical. Not many options then. There just weren’t many options public-wise. He needed to work on that as soon as possible!  
Bruce let his hands drop and he let his right rest on the edge of the table while the left reached down to lie over Dick’s knee. He traced the bone beneath the cloth and skin with a slight pressure of his thumb. 

“Bruce?”

“Look. I want to spend money to make you happy. I want to buy you things.”

Dick smiled (good!) and pulled his arms from Bruce’s waist, one hand rising to tangle with the one Bruce had laid on the table edge while the other rose to finger the folded edge of the dinner jacket Bruce was wearing.

“I know Bruce. I know you. But I never cared for the money.”

Bruce forced himself to not look away in uncertainty. He knew that. He did! It was just kind of humbling to be reminded of why dating Dick Grayson was so…deviating. Bruce Wayne was not used to this. Not used to NOT flirting with his money. The one thing he had tons of practice in could not be used here. Part of him liked the challenge but most of him was just irritated. He guessed it was easier in costume because the money didn’t mean much when you were back-to-back in the midst of danger or over-looking a scene that could and most likely would escalate into terror. 

“I want to do something nice for you.”

Dick’s smile grew a bit more (good!) and he said, “You already have Bruce, but unless we want to fall on old arguments…”

Bruce grimaced. Fine! He took a deep breath and ignored the grasp some imaginary hand had around his heart. He had to trust him. Even with this.

“OK,” he breathed, pulled himself away and reached back to the menu box, pulling a different colored menu from behind the others.

He took a deep breath and handed it over, turning around for a moment to replace the other one as he did. He turned back and nearly cursed as his partner was now looking at the menu in question but was also frowning. 

The prices.

Ugh! This wouldn’t work just coming from him. Dick had to give in a little too!

“Forty-eight dollars for a hamburger?”

“By your word. I trust you.”

“Bruce it’s-”

“Dick. Listen to me! I can’t be the only one giving in here! Give me something!”

Dick blinked, his face going pale before he muttered, “You can have whatever you want from me.”

Bruce groaned and slapped a hand over his eyes. He gritted his teeth, let the hand drop and took a very long calming breath before he…tried.

“I want you to order something you like. You don’t care about the money, I know that. I’m not used to it but I do accept it. I’ve given in and kept our dates simple in the past but this is in our lives as well.”

“It’s just-”

“No! I’ve given in it’s your turn.”

“But-”

“I WILL get up and walk out that door!” 

Bruce could have stabbed himself with an explosive Batarang and that sentence still would have hurt more. His heart sprang into his throat, his stomach plummeted into his shoes, his bones rattled and his skin began metaphorically peeling away from his muscles. What had he done? What had he said?

Dick was still just blinking at him!

What the hell did that even mean?

Bruce knew that he kept his face stoic even if his insides were all over the place. 

Then suddenly…Dick was laughing!

Wait. What?

The younger man was leaning forward over the table, menu sliding across the tablecloth to lay at the opposite edge as his arms crossed in front of him and he buried his face in them.

Bruce Wayne believed he had never been this confused in his life. 

“Wh-What!?”

Dick’s shoulders kept jumping from the laughter as he pulled himself up and smiled at his partner. He said nothing at the moment though, his laughter just turning into giggles. 

Bruce physically reached out and slapped himself in the forehead. The World’s Greatest Detective had missed something! It was humiliating! Downright humiliating! But what was it? 

Letting his hand drop he glanced around the room before slightly shaking hands were turning his face back to his partner and he was getting one hell of a kiss full of breath, lips, teeth and tongue. He thinks he moaned as his hands seemingly automatically went to wrap around Dick’s waist. In less than their next shared breath they were pressed together. Dick was still kind of laughing and Bruce was still horribly confused but hey-the kiss! That’s what was important!

-Until they were breaking apart and trying to recapture their breaths. 

“What the-?” Bruce began.

Dick let out a singular laugh before saying, “I knew it. I knew you had some self-confidence deep deep deep down there somewhere.”

“Wait what?!” Bruce asked.

“But seriously $48 for a hamburger IS ridiculously obscene-I’ll have the steak.”

* * *

Dinner had been easy and sensible….publicity-wise. Being in an isolated area helped too. Other patrons on the various floors had distant views of them but everyone was far enough away that they had semi-privacy. Still, public or private Bruce had seemed determined pay his partner back for the trick via embarrassment, loudly whispering a sweet compliment into Dick’s ear every time Steve had stopped back to take their orders, deliver food and generally keep an eye on a high paying patron. 

By the time the couple had left Bruce was wearing the biggest smirk he ever had in his life and Dick was certain that he was about to burst into flames as the two stepped back into the cool night air outside. It didn’t help that Bruce was holding his hand and constantly leaning closer for an occasional cuddle!

And he was thinking of everything Bruce had whispered to him throughout the night:

_“You’re so beautiful you know?”_  
_"Aw...charmer."_

_“I wish there was music, I’d dance with you until the sun rose.”_  
_"Sounds like it'd be fun."_

_“Come on; look at me with those baby blues.”_  
_"You're being awfully sweet, you know?"_

_“Mm, sweeter than sugar, more decadent than chocolate, spicier than a habanero. Mm, all you.”_  
_"Bruce, time and place please!"_

_“This wine has nothing on the taste of your lips.”_  
_"...Thanks?"_

_“Let them all stare, I’ll hold you till midnight.”_  
_"OK. You can give it a rest now."_

_“Have I ever told you how silky your hair is?”_  
_"No and I don't need you too."_

_“I love the taste of your skin. Mmm...”_  
_"Bruce we're in public!"_

_“Your heart’s racing. Is something wrong my Beloved?”_  
_"Give it a rest any time now."_

_“Come on, let’s cuddle!”_  
_"UH! You're making it hard to enjoy this steak you know?"_

_“My bright ray of sunshine-right here. Oh, how I love you so.”_  
_"Seriously, that's enough!"_

_“I’d rather be elsewhere, spread out beneath the night sky. You don’t know how breathtaking you look by moonlight.”_  
_"Bruce if you do not-mmm!"_

If Bruce-

They were just rounding the building and edging the parking lot…

“My sweet sweet rose…”

Dick’s face burst into flames. He knew it had!

He tore himself away from his partner and turned on him, raising a pointed finger at the Billionaire’s highly amused visage. “That’s it. One more Bruce and I swear I will deck you! I don’t care who’s watching!”

Bruce laughed. He fucking laughed!

“Wha-what do you have to say for yourself?”

Bruce’s laughter quieted and he smirked again before he moved forward and whispered, “I am Vengeance. I am the Night.”

Dick rolled his eyes and growled, “I am going to strangle Denis Tyler for coming up with that phrase for his stupid cartoon!”

“OK, I’ve gotten my vengeance. Can I have a kiss?” Bruce asked with a small smile.

Dick pouted, crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from his partner with a: “Nope!”

“Can I have a cuddle then?”

“No! What is with you and cuddling?”

Bruce didn’t need permission. He reached out and pulled Dick into his chest, taking a cuddle anyway.

“You’re incorrigible Bruce Wayne,” Dick muttered and groaned at the same time, wondering what he had gotten himself into and giving up nonetheless. 

“Come on, I’ve got a long night ahead of me and we both need to be ready for tomorrow. I’ll take you home.”

“Home?”

“Back to New York.”

“But it’s-“

“Like I said, I have a long night ahead of me.”

Dick turned in Bruce’s embrace and finally gave his partner a quick kiss. 

“Need any help?”

“No. Nothing too strenuous tonight, it’s just some investigating.”

“Good, we do have the interview tomorrow. Um, in the morning should I-“

“Don’t watch the news or pick up your phone. I’ll comm you if there’s anything and if you must-only read the Daily Planet.”

Dick nodded, “Right.”

“Come along, I’ll take you home,” Bruce reminded him.

They walked back to the car holding hands, separating only to climb inside and then held hands again when settled within the vehicle. 

“Seriously I am going to fucking BARF if you two keep it up!”

They both turned to see a frowning Jason Todd in the back seat of the car, arms crossed and eyes drawn down together tightly.

“Jason, what are you doing here?” Bruce growled, eyes scanning the windshield’s view in case anyone was looking inside.

All still seemed to be clear…but he shouldn’t be taking chances!

“I'm more concerned that he bypassed your alarm systems,” Dick said.

Jason simply shrugged and shifted in his seat before speaking.

“I grew up in Crime Alley, I have my ways. Since I finally have both of you in the same place at the same time, I can ask anything I want without getting half-assed rehearsed answers.”

Dick turned suddenly accusing eyes towards his partner. “I thought we agreed to be clear and precise with the family?”

“I was,” Bruce muttered. He gripped his keys nervously and Dick rolled his eyes heavenward.

“Jason you need-” Bruce began before Dick cut him off.

“Bruce, just drive I can handle this. Why are you asking us now? It's been a few days. Wait, did you ask the others?”

The Bat-Family’s bad boy shrugged before answering, “Replacement kept spazzing out every two seconds, Cass threw me out the nearest window, Barbie isn't talking to anyone, Miss Eggplant wouldn’t stop giggling, and the demon brat just kept smiling creepily.”

“And Alfred?” Bruce asked, finally pulling out onto the main road.

“He told me to ask you personally.” 

Dick sighed and asked, “How long have you been in the backseat?”

“I got in as soon as the two of you got into the restaurant.”

“You've been here for that long without food?”

“I had a protein bar,” Jason said with a shrug.

Dick smacked a hand over his eyes. “Somewhere Alfred is contemplating murder.”

Bruce turned slightly and handed back something. “Here, have a burger.”

“Bruce that better not be the burger we almost fought over.”

Bruce shrugged and then muttered, “I thought it would be good just in case you needed a snack on the way home.”

“-But I ate the full steak!”

“Your metabolism is outrageous.”

“Hey-!”

Jason interrupted with, “You two fought over a burger? If it's that good I'll take it!” And he promptly did so; snatching it out of Bruce’s hands before he unwrapped it and took a big bite.

“That's not the- never mind why do I even try? Jason, why are you here?”

“Well, I got the news that you and the Big Bad Bat were _nesting_ together-"

Bruce, having turned back to the road, glared back at Jason in the rearview mirror. “You shot me. Multiple times!”

Jason waved a careless hand in the air and grunted. “Details, details. Anyway, I'm just trying to get the record straight since Bruce here was being cryptic.”

“Bruce, we’ve talked about this cryptic-thing.”

“I wasn’t being cryptic. Jason just-doesn’t understand.”

“So explain it to me Bruce.”

Dick frowned and turned back to Jason saying, “Look Jay we’re-“

“Shut it Goldie. I’m here for him-not you. Well, actually I’m here to ask him about you.”

“What do you want Jason?” Bruce asked.

“I got questions that need answers.”

Bruce stopped at a red light and breathed. “Fine. Ask your questions.”

“First, I want an assurance Wayne or-“ There was a click and Jason was holding the barrel of a gun at the back of Bruce’s skull.

“Jason!” Dick yelled.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? I’m only going to shoot him if he says the wrong thing.”

“What?” Bruce growled.

“You tell me right now that you never ever fucking touched him as a child.”

"He didn't!"

"Shut up Dick! I'm talking to Daddy War-Bats here."

"I never had any sexual or romantic feelings towards Dick when he was a child in my care."

The light turned green, Jason lowered the gun and the car drove on. "OK, I strangely believe that…for now anyway. So, spill everything. Both of you."

Bruce took a deep breath and slowly said, "I'm taking Dick home. We're going to hit the interstate in six minutes-"

"Then you got five minutes and fifty six seconds to convince me NOT to shoot you." Jason punctuated the statement with another bite from his burger. 

"This is a really good burger. Why would you order a steak when you could have this burger?"

"While Bruce was buying dinner tonight I was not going to have him spend almost $50 on a burger I could get for $5 on patrol."

"This is a better quality burger and I am a billionaire, Dick."

"Still Bruce, I'm not really used to this kind of thing after all this time."

"Okay, enough burger talk. Information now please."

"When I get home." Dick finalized. "We will talk about this at my place Jason. Just you and me. No Bruce, no prying eyes, and no gun. Since you have this fixation on shooting Bruce at the moment, I think it would be a good thing."

"And why would I do that?"

"Jason, even if Bruce gave you the answer you want, which is "no I never touched Dick" and has been repeated a few times tonight by both of us, you would still probably shoot him."

"What makes you think I won't just pull the trigger right here and now?"

"Because if you do, you're going to have to kill me since I'm a witness and then run from the rest of our family, all the heroes on the face of this planet, and Alfred. Do you really want to look Alfred in the eyes and tell him what you did, especially in one of the most expensive cars he has to maintain?"

"…Bringing Alfred into this was dirty and I can respect that. Fine, but no Bruce."

"Jason-"

"Deal."

"No capes either."

"Gotcha. Just finish your burger Little Wing."

Jason leaned back into his seat while Bruce and Dick exchanged a look.

"Dick-"

"I know, I know, you want a report about this Dear."

"…I was going to say be careful, Sweetie."

"…Did you get a carry out drink too? Burger's great and all but I need something to wash it down with."

Bruce sighed at another red light and let his forehead hit the top of the steering wheel.

* * *

Yes, Dick had every intention of laying out the situation in front of Jason. In the back of his mind he did find it a bit sweet that Jason was being protective even if he seemed strangely just fixated on the IF-Bruce-had-done-anything-to-him-as-a-child concept than whatever was going on between them right now. They had reached his building and Dick had said goodbye to Bruce. Maybe he would have given him a kiss goodbye but…he wasn’t going to test that look on Jason’ face because he was just emanating his Red Hood persona at the moment. He didn’t NEED a gun to take someone out after all.

But when they reached Dick’s New York City penthouse-the night took a definite turn.

"I thought that I said no capes!"

"I'm sorry that I didn't count on my friends randomly being in my place when I got back."

Sure enough, sitting in Dick's living room were the remaining founding Titans. As per the usual since he and Bruce had made their relationship official, they did not look happy in the slightest. Mostly Roy, who was busy leaning out the doorway just in case Bruce were to make an appearance or one of them were to make a run for it. Thankfully it was Donna who broke the silence that had settled upon the scene at their entrance. 

"Dick sweetie, we've been talking and we think that it's time for an intervention."

Dick just…blinked at that. "The hell? I thought you approved of this with the League. I was there. Nobody lost their heads over it!"

"Short pants, you can either come with us or we're shoving you in the sack." To make his point, Roy held up a rather large and shiny red, yellow, and black sack.

“Is that-?” Jason began but didn’t bother finishing.

Dick finished the thought for him. "…Roy is that sack actually Plasticman? How did you get him to agree to this?"

Wally pointed to Jason and said, "Red Helmet comes too."

"The double hell? Since when am I part of this Titans drama?"

"Since you knocked over Donna's statue in the Hall of Fallen Titans and beat up Tim?" Roy supplied.

"Oh yeah…"

"Grab 'em!"

For Jason, he contemplated shooting one of them but he had to talk to Dick, a bullet wouldn’t bother Donna or Garth, it wouldn’t catch Wally and it would just piss off Roy. Wouldn’t stop any of them in the least. Unfortunately, he thought about it too long and everything went red, yellow and black.

Later he would be contemplating how one could even manage to kill Plasticman.

* * *

The place was dark with dim lights and gray walls. There were also creepy chains hanging from the ceilings interwoven between three large windows, which were still displaying the night sky. 

…Hadn’t been out very long then.

Dick looked around the warehouse he and Jason were currently tied up in, courtesy of Plasticman. 

"You even got an Intervention Banner. I'm impressed."

Roy stepped up to the metaphorical plate and away from the nearest wall, flicking on a light beside him that revealed Donna and Wally leaning against an old dusty crate some five feet away from their bound ‘guests.’

"While we did somehow give you and Bruce our blessings to date one another, it doesn't mean that we're completely on board with the subject. I-"

" -And by "I" he means "we" as in everyone in this room."

"…Thank you Wally. WE think that it's time for us to sit down and talk about how your relationship with Bruce may just be a mixture of Alfred's cooking because all forces everywhere know it could probably sway the dead and gods alike, a sense of responsibility you have for Batman and Talia's spawn since you practically mothered him like the great big mama bird you are inside when Bruce supposedly died, don't we wish-“

Dick fixed his oldest friend with a deadpan stare before muttering, "Roy you're being creepy."

Instead of escaping, Jason was trying his hardest not to laugh. This was getting good!

" -And Stockholm Syndrome! Due to the fact that you've been at Bruce's side for all of these years. We're not counting grooming out just yet!”

"Roy, stop being gross."

"Okay, if Roy-boy here is using technical terms then this is gonna be good,” Jason murmured.

Dick suppressed the urge to roll his eyes in response. Fixing his eyes back on the Titans, he tried to assemble his most influential voice. Tried anyway. "Bruce dropped me off at my place Roy. Expecting a report from me! He's going to be here in like five minutes-"

"Kara's patrolling the sky and we've got Tempest circling the bay-"

There was a loud crash as a blinking purple orb shot through the roof.

"-or five seconds. I stand corrected."

The sleeping gas bomb went off.

Magic spells, suffocation and gasses. He was getting real tired already of being unconscious tonight!

Of course, that was 100% his last thought. Cliché!

* * *

When Dick came to…again! He was lying on a bed in the Batcave. Stated so simply because it simply was the most ‘normal’ thing that had occurred to him this evening. And of course within seconds of his eyes adjusting to the different level of light, his gaze was suddenly full of an annoyed looking Bruce Wayne.

"If this is going to happen every time we want to have a public date, I might just have to have you move back to Gotham because this is going to get very tiring, very fast."

"What?"

In his defense, he might not have been completely conscious yet!

"Catch." 

Collective unconscious activating, his hands rose and clamped around a titanium wrapped tablet that his partner had tossed him.

"You can finish this report of what happened when you were in the Titan's… custody."

Dick blinked down at the now lit up tablet twice before remembering the…last few hours? He guessed anyway and switched his gaze back to Bruce.

"…Where's Jason and what did you do to the Titans?"

He swore if Batman had dumped the Titans in some big dark hole in reality and Nightwing had to go rescue them-Bruce was so not getting any more kisses!

"That is something I truly have no knowledge of. Damian's the one who tracked you to the warehouse, I just picked you up."

“That sleeping gas bomb was Damian?”

Bruce nodded and Dick groaned, head falling back onto the bed’s pillow.

“Fine. Then where is Damian?”

“Cassandra took-well Damian took Cassandra out for pizza. And I’m certain they’re also spying on Tim and Stephanie downtown.”

“Comm?”

“The tablet’s hooked up to our communication grid.”

“Oh,” Dick breathed and sat up on the bed, letting his legs hang down off of the side.

He frowned at the device and then regretfully began poking at the colorful squares on the screen. In the space in front of him he could see Bruce out of the corner of his eye crossing the medical area to glance at some lines of code on a computer screen. Paying it little mind, he couldn’t find a direct line to Damian on the device but he DID find about six different lines to Cassandra. The strange thing was that the only one active at the moment was the one that listed her civilian name as Cassandra Wayne.

So, she wasn’t out as Batgirl.

That calmed him down a little but then again that didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t prowling any rooftops, alleyways and/or streets as herself.

However he called the line and the voice that came back was definitely Cassandra’s though to Dick’s knowledge it had never been this…light?

“Hi.”

“Hi Cass. Is Damian with you?”

“Yes.”

“Could you put him on?”

There was a clank! And then…Damian.

“Wayne here.”

Oh my gosh! He sounded like a mini-business-Bruce! And somewhere that had to be against the law for being too damn cute!

Shaking off an embarrassing blush, Dick finally asked. “What did you do with Jason and the Titans?”

“Tt! Your friends should currently be waking up on Liberty Isle as we speak, each a bit drowsy.”

“What about Jason?”

“I gave him to the NYPD.”

Like they’d be able to hold Jason. He’d be back in Gotham City by tomorrow night. Nothing to worry about then.

“OK. Fine. Enjoying your evening out with Cass?”

“…We’re at a pizzeria. The pizza’s good but these Freddy Fazbear animatronics look murderous. Inform father that this building needs to be investigated.”

“Um, OK.”

“I have to go; some purple clown is insisting I go up on the stage with the animatronics for a ‘special song’.”

“OK. Bye Dami.”

A sigh and a click. 

…He really was Bruce’s son. 

“Write your report…please?”

Wow! A please? 

Dick looked up from the tablet after the line closed and blinked up at Bruce. The older man had moved away from the computer screen of programming codes and was now only two steps away from the medical bed. 

But he looked nervous…which was still unsettling to Dick. No matter how things between them had changed, he was still accustomed to Bruce holding himself above those he worked with. Not ever with intended malicious contempt but with a special authoritative aurora so work got done. It was how he always held himself as far back as Dick could remember. So, he nodded and brought up the digital keyboard on the tablet. It wouldn’t be very time consuming…besides Bruce could probably already guess the…situation with the Titans. So the report would be…useless in practicality but Batman always needed records.

And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“So how was your investigation?”

“I’ve yet to leave.”

“Oh?”

Dick glanced up from his 3rd line about Arsenal and watched his partner walk the last few steps over to him and

-oh!

-Slide a hand over his knee. Dick was still done up in his dinner-ware so the black no-longer-steam-pressed (thank you Alfred) pants let the sensation through. Seriously, did these things have to be made of such thin cloth? No practicality whatsoever!

Bruce on the other hand had obviously already changed at least once. If he had picked him up in New York, it would have been as Batman but at the current moment the older man was sporting sweat pants and a black sweater. So Bruce had picked him up in New York after Damian had taken away the Titans and Jason…somehow-he had a feeling that the Batjet had been missing for a short time this evening-returned to the cave, changed out of the batsuit, into his current outfit and still planned to change again and leave later?

…?

Meaning…OH!

“You could have gone ahead you know?” 

Bruce’s hand slid off of his knee then rose to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes and tuck it behind his ear. God damn closet-romantic! This wasn’t fair-he was not prepared for this side of Bruce!

“I wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“Oh come on, like the Titans would hurt me?”

“No, but they might convince you to-“

“I’m not breaking up with you Bruce-get over it!”

Silence. Staring.

Bruce nodded sharply and breathed out an: “OK.”

Dick smiled in pitied amusement and went back to the report. Distantly he heard Bruce moving to the nearby sink and bit his lip in thought about how to word Plasticman’s involvement in the scheme. Or would not mentioning him just be better for the situation?

Wait a minute! Oh gosh, Patrick better be with the Titans or Damian was going to get it!

He calmed down with a mental reminder that he had seen Patrick survive for thousands of years on the bottom of the ocean as little more than bread crumbs so he was probably fine!

Dick finished the report with a planned inquiry about Kara being present at the time, sent it to the main computer and shut the tablet down, just in time to glance up and find Bruce handing him a cup of water. He placed the tablet down on the table beside the bed and took the cup with a nod of thanks and a smile. Which Bruce strangely returned with one of his own barely-present-in-this-plane-of-existence smiles. But hey-Batman! He better just get used to it. 

“So, I’m fine,” Dick finally said.

Bruce nodded and watched him with narrowed eyes as he took a long drink of the water. 

He understood the water-had to flush any of the clinging gas out of his system-that was logical and he’d need to change as it was probably clinging to his clothes too but often what did stick to the suits in situations wasn’t enough to cause any harm and therefore not something to be worried about.

But Bruce not moving an inch from the cave when he-? 

“Um, are you leaving for that investigation?” 

Bruce blinked twice, like Dick had been speaking a different language he couldn’t grasp which was ridiculous since he and Bruce shared knowledge of most earthen languages. He definitely was more pronounced with his foreign Roma tongues than his partner was but then again Bruce kind of trumped him when it came to the Chinese tongues. On the other hand, when it came to the cosmos the only difference in their languages was that Bruce knew Kryptonian and Dick knew Tameranean. 

So…?

“I just…”

Bruce reached out, took the cup and turned to sit it beside the tablet on the bedside table. Then, he turned back to his partner, leaned forward…

And pressed a kiss to his lips.

Oh yeah! They did this now! Satisfied with the rightness of the world Dick reached up and curled his hands into Bruce’s sweater. Then Bruce’s arms were around his shoulders, lightly…barely touching the thin cloth of his shirt. 

Bruce pulled back slowly and spoke even slower.

“You need to change. I won’t be gone long. Alfred’s fixing you something…whenever you’re ready to head upstairs.”

“Going to tell me what the investigation is this time?”

He saw the movement of muscles in Bruce’s face, indicating that he was biting the inside of his cheek. His eyes flickered to the floor and back up to his partner twice before he settled on an answer.

“Yes. It’s just a convoluted attempt by a concerned citizen to have Arkham’s and Blackgate’s inmates undergo harsher punishments.”

“Ah, I see.”

Yeah, they did have those from time to time-over concerned citizens or victims with the opinion that everyone who went through those doors deserved to be buried in holes in the ground or swinging at the end of a hanging rope. 

Bruce let his arms drop from his partner’s shoulders, eyed the hands uncurling from the material of his sweater and reached out to catch one of Dick’s hand in both of his. He kissed the fingers, smiled at the shocked look on Dick’s face and then moved away towards the changing room.

“Finish your water!” he called back.

And then realized how much of a parent that made him sound like. So he quickly fixed the problem.

“-Honey Badger!”

“Honey badger?”

If Dick had any further protests Bruce didn’t hear them before he was enclosed in the changing area of the cave. He quickly located his row of uniforms and reached for the stealth suit. Tonight called for infiltration and retrieval after all so there was no need for the incredibly thick armor tonight, the extreme security suit or the double-stocked utility belt. Besides, he didn’t want to be in the suit too long tonight. He planned to be back within a few hours anyway. Talk to Dick about…what he knew was going to happen and also what could happen tomorrow. 

It took expressively less time to get into the stealth suit so he was back out into the cave cowl and all by the time Dick had finished his water and was in fact just getting to his feet when Batman stepped out. The younger man eyed him curiously for a moment but then smiled and walked past him to the changing area.

Hm, Batman had been half expecting a kiss or a brush of their hands. 

…he was so sad about it.

But he shook it away and headed for the Batmobile. He’d take a few minutes to check his supplies and the basic security systems. Then again-why lie? 

Clark’s picture of them would be printed in The Daily Planet in less than one hour. It would be seen by the staff at that point. Still a news room, though crazy, could still possibly be corralled with enough…persuasion. Said picture would be arriving at doorsteps in the paper tomorrow morning at 5 to 8. However in one hour, it would be on the Planet’s website.

And once that happened, there really would be NO turning back.

Batman heard footsteps approach from behind him and he turned with a serious frown. He had every intention of asking it…

One more time.

He had to be certain that they were ready for this. For the public, for the backlash, for the accusations, for the attacks, for the insults, for-

His brain blanked out when Dick, now wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts clashing horribly with a pair of bright yellow flip flops, pushed him against the side of the Batmobile and pressed their bodies together before breathing a hard kiss onto his lips.

Damn it! He was trying to stop him from leaving!

Overcome temptation! Overcome temptation! Overcome temptation!

It didn’t seem to be working as he was now gripping his partner’s hips and pulling him closer, even though that wasn’t possible given how close they were already. But-he HAD to ask. Had to be certain. 

So he pushed Dick away and worked quickly to regain his breath.

“Last chance Dick. Very last chance. Are you certain?”

The younger man just smiled, fucking winked at him and then darted forward to kiss his cowl-covered nose.

And Batman was blushing! Darn it! How did Dick not see how fucking dangerous he was? This couldn’t just be going in one ear and out of the other-could it?

“Hurry back Bruce-or I’ll eat all of the Alfred-cookies.”

“I know you could.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“No. I may gamble with a lot of things in my life but your metabolism isn’t one of them.”

He left the Batcave much lighter than he had arrived and that wasn’t because he had arrived carrying his partner.

* * *

It was time to get back beneath the cowl, completely.

In a way Batman was very relieved to get back to the regular work. His specialty work that was! In a way his darker side was yelling at him because he was kind of not all in his work. He was unfocused because his partner-

Dick shouldn’t have kissed him like that!

No space between them, thick breath that for some reason still smelled like blueberries! Seriously, did Dick HAVE to drag that out? You let the man know you love blueberries, especially on French toast, and he never can conveniently forget it! Not even for the greater good! Still, Bruce’s lips had a lingering warmth about them. Although that was probably a result of the blueberry scent and taste. Strangely though, Bruce hadn’t noticed his partner carrying any mints or breath-freshener at any part during the evening. Then again, the night had been a pretty distracting one and Bruce had readily enjoyed it because it would probably be the only one they would ever have outside of costume for a long time. After Clark’s article and picture hit the press in the morning which was only a few hours away they could say goodbye to the semi-privacy.

Batman parked the Batmobile behind a closed out grocery store and pulled out a manila folder from the overhead compartment. OK, shake off the thoughts and feelings from the date and-

“Focus!” he muttered to himself and opened the folder labeled Penalty. 

There were two sheets of plain white paper in the folder and Batman bit the inside of his cheek in irritation. There was so little to work with and it was annoying!

The first paper had the script of the .mp3 file he had gotten from one of his bugs in the mayor’s office-

**I'm happy to bring my methods to Gotham City Mr. Mayor. Criminals have plagued this city for far too long. Too many of them deserved the hanging rope years ago, if not decades. I'll have Project Penalty ready for application by December 14th. Now are you-**

And below was what little information he had been able to get off of a simple network search.

Name: Adora Merriam Fields  
Sex: Female  
Age: 32  
Ethnicity: Latina  
Height: 5’8”  
Eyes: Green  
Hair: Brown  
Address: 401 Riverford Circle, Lexington, KY, 40504  
Phone: (850) 345-7788  
E-Mail: AdMerFields9@gothamcen.com  
Education:  
-Washington High School Diploma  
-3 Year Alpha Club Excellence  
-4 Year Honor Roll  
-4 Year Drama Club  
-2 Years Cheer Squad  
-University of Fairbanks  
-Masters in Law  
-Associate in Applied Medical Psychology  
-Associate in French Literature

Basic information and nothing he could really use right now. Batman pushed the first paper aside and scanned the second sheet. This paper was the one that Commissioner Gordon had given to Batwoman…uh, that night…and contained a bit more. The police didn’t have the statement from his bug but they did have a bit more on the woman’s background in addition to the public information.

-Resident of Gotham City at age 28  
Address: 6578 Northbond Ave. Howle Risings Apt. C  
-Departed Gotham at age 30 for unknown reasons  
-Returned to Gotham in June of this year  
Location: Red Rain Motel  
-Enlisted herself in a meeting with the city council

And that was it. Huh? Again, very little to work with. If she had lived in Gotham City before, perhaps something had happened those years ago? It would explain her distaste towards Gotham City’s villains but then again she could just be one of those over-concerned citizens. She wouldn’t be the first to publicly declare a war against the inmates of Blackgate and Arkham with the intention of keeping them from harming the public. 

Well, finding out was why he was here! He also made a mental note to get in contact with Batwoman soon. She had been keeping an eye on the woman as ordered. Perhaps she had information to pass along. 

Batman dropped the file on the passenger seat and then stopped-

What-felt wrong?

He worked his jaw for a moment but then shook his head. Maybe it was the fact that Tim hadn’t been around much lately. Not because of Bruce’s new…romantic interest though that was obviously playing a part in the situation. Robin was busy with the Titans a lot and Spoiler of course. And Tim was prepping for University. The boy was 17, about to be 18 and move out.

Another Robin was-

Damn it! Focus! Mission!

That was a Bruce Wayne problem-not a Batman problem!

Shaking his head again to clear it of his civilian thoughts, Batman climbed out of his vehicle, activated the security measures and grappled to the empty market’s rooftop. A few buildings down there was a quaint little motel with a red and white theme lighting up the dark area that was far from downtown’s night lights. It was currently where his target in question was staying while in Gotham. The woman was smart though. No one would look for her here for one and the motel in question was…rustic. He even bet they probably still used physical paper files! It took a few minutes to find a rooftop pathway that didn’t creak on said building and then he was successfully sneaking into a back office that was pitch black of course. The front foyer’s light was still on, as evidenced by the bar of yellow he spotted beneath said office’s door, but he heard no movement or footsteps outside. Taking out a flashlight he examined the room. Truthfully it looked more like it was half an office and half a janitor’s closet as one wall held a dented metal desk, with an old dinosaur of a computer monitor, the tower resting on a shelf near the floor and an old office chair in front of it. The rest of the room was taken up by a small filing cabinet and piles and piles of aprons, towels, mops, brooms and various bottles of cleaning supplies. 

He bypassed most of it to plug his Capture Drive into the USB port on the front of the computer’s tower and then turned to the filing cabinet. He paused for a moment to listen for more footsteps, heard nothing and then opened the top drawer. Then he promptly slammed it shut.

OK, the skimpy maid uniform and cat-o-nine-tails was not something he had needed to see tonight! People had the weirdest freaking kinks! Why anyone wanted to imagine their partner in such outfits was scary as hell to him! And he was Batman!

He reached down to open the second drawer given the cabinet only had two. Maybe he held his breath and sent an away prayer that he wouldn’t see anything else of…questionable tastes…maybe he didn’t. To his utter relief the second drawer contained a large cramped row of multi-colored file folders. Wow! They were even labeled! He searched under ‘F’ and found his subject. There was a sudden buzz in his cowl, alerting him that his Capture Drive had finished downloading all of the information from the computer and he walked over with the folder to retrieve it and slide it back into a pouch in his belt. Turning his eyes back to the file he found a few lines of interest that included a Metropolis savings account that she was using to pay her motel stay, strange. Even stranger was that she had already prepaid her stay up until March of the next year.

Why? What was she planning?

Hearing approaching footsteps, couldn’t be any more movie cliché-this night, he returned the folder and left the office. Unfortunately he hadn’t left through the back door fast enough to escape the sound of drunken giggling and the sound of a drawer opening. 

Oh-why?

Seriously, if his partner dressed up in that? The image flashed before his mind and made him choke silently. Nope. He’d have an aneurysm if he so much as thought about it again. As he made his way back to his vehicle he sent the bank account number to the Batcomputer to run through a search and let his mind drift. Bruce would be returning to the Manor, grabbing a few hours of sleep and then activating any and all necessary contingency plans for the morning. He finally reached the Batmobile and climbed in with a sigh. The cowl was calling for him to hit the rooftops but Bruce Wayne had to be prepared for tomorrow and so took precedent currently. He let autopilot take over and picked up the file on the Penalty Project to write in the new information with a pen. 

Yes, he kept a pen in his utility belt! 

…?

So sue him! You’d lose!

Later he would kick himself, figuratively at least, for letting autopilot take over. He didn’t spend much time writing in the new information or sending it digitally to his computer. He should have shut off autopilot at that very moment and focused his mind on the way back. 

-But he didn’t.

The Batmobile didn’t take the inner roads of the city but did take one close enough that the large news screens in the center of the city were slightly visible at the car’s momentary distance. The largest screen more than clear enough that he spotted one Vicki Vale stretched across the plane of glass, eyes narrowed at the papers beneath her hands at the desk she was sitting at and floating beside her on the screen…

Was the picture.

OK. A little faster than he had planned but-

It was starting. 

He locked those thoughts away though as he passed back into the cave. He left the file in the vehicle and walked rapidly to the changing area. Not blind, he knew that he was obviously changing must faster than usual. 

Which was ridiculous he told himself.

No one would be bothering them tonight. 

But-he wanted to be with Dick right now. 

That was why he bypassed writing his report and made his way up into Wayne Manor. He expected to find Dick in his bedroom but was surprised to locate the younger man sitting in the den with Alfred, the duo sharing a kettle of hot tea. 

They hadn’t noticed his arrival yet-

“-told me to make sure I wasn’t doing it for him.”

“Are you not?”

“I partially am. He IS half of this relationship after all.”

“True. I do hope you’re prepared for everything starting tomorrow?”

A deep breath. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m not going anywhere. Not yet at least.”

“Many do say you struggle with commitments.”

“What-where? When I stayed by Bruce’s side from when he took me in up into college? Or when I was in a relationship with the woman I loved for four years? Or all of the years I lead the Titans and did nothing else? Commitment-yes clearly it’s my Achilles’ heel.” 

“I did not say I agreed with them Master Dick.”

A sigh and: “I know Alfred. I just-“

“Have doubts?”

“No, it’s not that. I just know this is going to be trouble but at the same time…”

“…I’m very proud of him too.”

“How did you…?

“…?”

“Never mind. You’re Alfred Pennyworth- I’m not questioning.”

“So, all is well?”

“Yes. I love Bruce. I’m happy to be with him and the fact that he wants it public is…um-what’s the word? Hurried but still feels right?”

“Instinctive?” 

“Yeah-that’ll work! And just…wonderful.”

Bruce took a heavy step into the room. “What’s wonderful?”

Both men turned and looked at him in surprise. Then they smiled, but where Alfred’s was amused Dick’s had turned flirty.

“Oh, just my boyfriend-who really needs to get over here instead of standing in the doorway like a dumbbell.”

Bruce smirked and began the few steps required to reach the couch. Dick put down his tea cup and stood up just in time to be wrapped up in his partner’s arms.  
Yet again, Bruce Wayne was NOT an idiot. He moved, slowly but with purpose; cupping Dick’s face before bringing him into a soft, completely innocent kiss. Not an idiot. Alfred was still in the room after all. He had to show him that he could still keep his head and remain…civilized when diving into this relationship.

They didn’t sleep.

The new couple had moved from the couch to the room’s far window seat and their faithful butler kept up a relay of tea, sandwiches and cookies as the hours passed by.  
One by one, the children returned, looked in on them and were all promptly marched to their bedrooms by Alfred before the butler himself retired for the evening; though he did voice the opinion that he would not achieve any rest this night/morning either.

Back in the den both men were staring out at the night err very early morning sky, holding small tidbits of conversation with one another. 

“Remember when we used to spend the few hours before patrol in here?”

“Yes.”

“You’d be sitting in your chair, face buried in the newspaper.”

“You’d be sitting in front of me on the floor, eyes glued to the television all the time.”

“Well I hadn’t had a TV before. It was fascinating!”

Bruce chuckled and reached out to take his partner’s hand in his own before he took a very deep breath.

“Are you ready for this?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Are you certain?”

“Ready to be called a dirty-gay-homo-thieving-Gyp? YEP! You?”

“Ready to be called a pedophilic-gay-homo-faggot. Maybe I’ll ensure Batman runs into everyone who says anything.”

Dick laughed and said, “I hope you record that.”

Suddenly Bruce’s countenance changed from curiosity to a vengeance-smirk and he spoke with a slight maniacal tone.

“Or maybe I’ll just let their home addresses leak to the Titans.”

“You don’t like metas in Gotham.”

“…I’ll make an exception.”

* * *

The morning was quiet between the Manor’s oldest boarders. Alfred’s way of preparing for the storm was apparently cooking. Bruce had to keep reminding himself to NOT bother with searching out the daily newspapers. In fact, since Alfred had locked himself in the kitchen and hadn’t traversed the driveway to collect them they were probably all stacked up into a pile down by the entrance gate. Dick had excused himself to go to the Manor’s gym while Bruce had taken a route to the library. It would probably help to have something to read at the very least. Scanning the shelves Bruce picked up annotated Shakespeare (a rare find at an off road thrift store in Denver 3 years ago) made a quick flip through the pages to judge its condition and then headed back downstairs to seek out some coffee. 

Sitting at the head of the 22-seater dining table he took three giant gulps of the caffeine drink and immersed himself into the tale of Othello.

…

_Pray heavens he be;_  
_For I have served him, and the man commands_  
_Like a full soldier. Let’s to the seaside, ho!_  
_As well to see the vessel that’s come in_  
_As to throw out our eyes for brave Othello,_  
_Even till we make the main and aerial blue_  
_An indistinct regard._

“Father I demand use of the new jet!”

Bruce blinked out of the dialogue of Montano and glanced up. He was off his focus already? He hadn’t even heard his son enter the dining room!

Prepared to say the typical-“no you can’t” line; he lost it somewhere between the foot long knife in his child’s left hand and was that a flame thrower on his back?

“Damian, we’ve talked about weapons at the table.”

“To hell with the rules! I need to kill people!”

Oh gosh, Bruce thought that they had been making progress all of this time! Apparently not…

“Dami, please put the weapons back in your room.”

Both Waynes looked over to see Dick walking in from the hallway dressed in black jeans and a dark green sweater. His skin was flushed and his hair was damp, proving that his workout had ended with a shower. 

Damian apparently, would not be denied though. “I must!”

“Damian, you can’t kill someone for having an opinion.”

“The hell I can’t!”

Thank all deities, Alfred entered the room at that moment, pushing his serving cart full of drinks ahead of him.

“Master Damian, no blood before breakfast.”

“But-“

“We have an agreement Master Damian. Now I implore you to return your weapons to their proper places and wake your siblings for breakfast.”

“Do I get to kill afterwards?”

“Perhaps.”

Damian left with a huff and Bruce turned his eyes onto his partner who frowned and walked over to sit next to him.

“What was that about?”

“Just a minute Bruce. I need coffee. Thanks Alfie!”

Alfred placed a large coffee cup in front of Dick and then turned to refill Bruce’s cup.

After a cleansing few sips and breaths Dick finally spoke. “He apparently didn’t realize that us being together could be viewed as…negative. There’s a lot of…fury in him being directed at a few choice people who made comments on the Daily Planet and Youtube.”

“How is it already on Youtube?”

“I don’t know-I didn’t watch any of the videos. But get this…”

Dick leaned in close to his partner and whispered, “Damian actually has respect for Clark now.”

Bruce blinked and muttered, “Wow.” And then tilted his head to quickly peck his partner’s cheek.

“Hey! No fair, using that on me before I finish my coffee.”

“All’s fair in love and war.”

“Oh my god and people call me cheesy. You’re the worst Bruce.”

“Thank you,” he said with an amused smirk.

“OK, news alert! Batman is officially the cheeky one! And HHMP-“

Bruce had wasted little time in sealing his mouth over Dick’s and licking at his lips. Maybe one of them had tried to say something but they got lost trying to stay focused. Reality really was a lovely place but they didn’t want to live there.

It wasn’t until Tim walked into the room, squealed and then ran back out that they broke the kiss. He almost ran over Cassandra on his way out but she jumped up and grabbed onto the door frame as he ran past her. Dropping down she blinked after him in confusion and then turned back to her father and his partner. Both were red faced and looking away from her. That was weird. She smiled though, noting the human signs of nervousness. She actually found it funny for a moment. 

“Not hide,” she said with a smile at the two.

They both blinked and looked at her before she crossed the floor and manually put their hands together on top of the table.

“Happy?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Would you enjoy a refreshment Miss Cassandra?”

Crap! They had forgotten about Alfred being in the room! Though, his attention seemed focused on the teen girl as she made the hand signs for the butler’s homemade Ruby Spice Cappuccino. 

Bruce cleared his throat and said, “I'm going to go talk to Tim."

"Weren't you supposed to have already talked to him? I thought we had a deal?"

"He was...shocked."

"...Fine. Go on. I swear if I didn't know you were the king of understatements-"

Bruce smirked and ducked in to cut his partner off with a kiss, adding just a bit of a nip to Dick's lower lip. He didn't wait for a response though, getting to his feet and walking out of the room. Unfortunately, not fast enough to NOT hear-

"That's it Wayne! You're now not allowed to do that before noon!"

Bruce just chuckled and kept his smile on his face as his senses searched out signs for the whereabouts of his current Robin. It was a bit annoying to his Batman side but he couldn't help being happy and even Batman was content with it since it made a lot of sense to him as well. Had he really been afraid that this would have lost him his first partner? His smile fell into a frown as he traversed the familiar hallways and came upon his study door slightly ajar. 

He got it.

It was far from the first time that a Robin had searched out shelter in the cave. It had happened with all of them from time to time. Tim would have had no reason to linger in his office after all.

Bruce pressed his lips together in...Thought? Nervousness? Embarrassment? 

Who knew?

He reached out and pushed open the door to glance inside. The clock was closed-good Tim was still thinking straight then and everything was in its normal place. Except, his gaze landed on the stack of end of the year reports on his desk. They were still in their organized respective stacks but the top papers were askew-proving Tim had probably dashed past it all in quite a rush.

Unsurprisingly he did find Tim in the cave but was surprised to see that the teen was sitting in the chair in front of the computer-reading something on a familiar tablet. 

Crap! He had left it out!

"Tim?"

"Bruce. What is this?" Tim demanded.

When Tim glanced up his face was hard and unyielding. Oh and he was wearing a very characteristic scowl too! Bruce might have even been proud of it...if it wasn't being directed at him.

Tim turned the tablet towards him but Bruce was certain that his young protégé was looking at a very specific document that he had never wanted Tim or anyone to see.

"What is this?" Tim repeated.

Set up question. He is giving Bruce the _opportunity_ to lie.

"Just a plan."

Tim smacked himself in the head before he shook it in disbelief. "No Bruce. No. This is not how you relationship!"

"Tim, you're using nouns as verbs."

"You. He. You both. Me. Everyone-AH!"

Tim threw the tablet down on the desk to his left and marched away towards his motorcycle.

"Tim where are you going?"

"Titans Tower! I need to be away from here!"

"Wait! Tim we need to talk!"

"No! We really don't!"

"Tim-!"

* * *

Back upstairs Dick kept himself occupied by stealing Bruce's book and reading as Alfred returned to the kitchen to prepare their breakfast, Cassandra lost herself in her weakness of her Ruby Spice Cappuccino and Damian returned with his phone, muttering death curses under his breath.

"Grayson they're saying-"

"Don't rise to it Damian. Bruce and I expected it."

"But-"

"No Damian. I don't want to know what people are saying. I'll hear it soon enough out here I don't want my mind warped with opinions in cyberspace to start out."

"But they're wrong!"

"That's an opinion-everyone's allowed to have one."

Damian just growled and started typing rapidly while muttering, "They're wrong. It's a fact."

"O-o-"

Dick turned and found Cassandra glancing down at the book in his hands.

"Othello," Dick explained, turning the book towards her.

She glanced at the words very intensely and then looked back at him-her eyes expectant and simmering with some singular joy. He'd only ever seen the look once before and that was when...

Dick beamed. "You know-let me tell it the fun way."

* * *

Bruce grumbled and tightened his hold on his hastily grabbed utility belt as a now dressed Robin sped out on his motorcycle and the detective himself was being held to the wall by strong Amazonian hands. He wished it was Troia. He really did. Even Wondergirl, Hippolyta possibly, maybe Drusilla, hell he’d take Artemis! But no-

It had to be Diana.

The woman hadn't even bothered using the teleporter! She had just flown down into Gotham city and tore up his security system! All before dismissing his protégé and slamming him against the nearest wall. Which was getting very fucking annoying!

"We need to talk Bruce."

"Then talk."

"I don't agree with what you're doing."

"Get in line Diana, it's already 20 miles long."

She stepped back and released the grip on his shoulder; her eyes drawn down in fierce betrayal. 

"What do you want?" he growled.

"I want to know why and I don't want this to happen."

"It's none of your business."

Suddenly, her face fell and her voice grew timid. "Why? We cared for each other once."

Bruce scowled. "That's why you're here? I moved on and you don't like it? You're jealous?"

Diana's eyes narrowed and her voice grew sharp again. "Don't know why-it's obviously not worth my time."

"It's none of your business to begin with!"

"Come on Bruce isn't this complete contradiction? You never chose to care for anyone like this."

"You think this is my choice? That's rich coming from you."

"What did you call it with me? Oh yes, being Emotionally Compromised! That's exactly what this is going to be!"

"I've been emotionally compromised by Dick Grayson since I day I met him-that hasn't changed no matter what else I feel."

"Oh and how is the world going to take this?"

"However they want to. That's their problem not mine or ours."

"This is a mistake Bruce. Dick is-"

"Someone you don't even know Diana! I haven't ever seen the two of you share eye contact much less a conversation and let's be honest the sole reason Nightwing isn't in the League is because of you! Clark's always encouraged it and even I agreed with it. You're the only one who says no!"

"He's not ready!"

"He was ready when he was 13!"

"This is rich. It doesn't work out with any women so you shack up-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence! Get out my cave and get out of my city!"

"...This is a bad idea Bruce."

And she was gone, leaving Bruce to look over the dented pieces of metal that had been crafted into meta-human stun guns previously. Effective meta-human stun guns actually.

Then again, it wasn't like Wonder Woman was a normal meta-human anyway.

Bruce turned to set the hastily grabbed utility belt down and then to bring up the tracking program on his computer. Tim was heading directly to Titans' Tower and Diana was already in the upper atmosphere.

Good.

He brought up his extra security systems and sent last minute notes out to the others; specifically asking Batwoman to maintain a watch on Adora Fields' movements, requesting Azreal deal with a drug shipment on the docks and suggesting Huntress look into anything that might allude to the Enigma or Babylon groups reforming. It was all too often that gangs would be imprisoned or scattered that they'd group themselves together again.

After all, people tended to cling to their grudges. 

After running a last minute system diagnostic and finding nothing he turned away from the work and headed back to the stairs. He needed some breakfast.

He came upon a strange sight though in the dining room. Damian was staring in wonderment and Cassandra was doing something similar but happily while his son just looked dumbfounded. Alfred was behind the boy, smiling amusingly. Bruce soon found that the source of the spectrum of amazement was his partner. He had taken off his green sweater, revealing a light blue t-shirt beneath it and tied the arms around his neck to let it lay against his back as a mock cape.

"The servents of the Duke, and my  
lietenant.  
The goodness of the night upon you, friends!  
What is the news?"

Bruce smiled and stepped into the room, allowing his voice to change alcoves into those of Cassio.

"Something from Cyprus as I may  
divine:"

Everyone turned to look at him with wonder.

"It is a business of some heat: the galleys  
Have sent a dozen sequent messengers  
This very night at one another's heels,  
And many of the consuls, raised and met,  
Are at the Duke's already: you have been  
hotly call'd for;  
When, being not at your lodging to be  
found,  
The senate hath sent about three several quests  
To search you out."

Dick beamed and did a dramatic turn towards Bruce as he continued.

"Tis well I am found by you.  
I will but spend a word here in the house,  
And _go with you_."

Both men laughed as Cassandra and Alfred clapped.

"More?" Cass asked.

Dick untied the arms of his sweater and slipped it back on.

"More later Cass. Promise."

"Promise," she agreed with a nod. 

"Excellent work Masters. Now breakfast will be ready in about half an hour-I'll bring out some fresh fruit for the long wait."

"I'm confused father, why did you just recite Shakespeare?" Damian asked.

"You'll understand when you're older."

Damian scowled, glanced over at the abandoned book and snatched it up, placing his phone down on the table. Eyeing it Cassandra snuck it away from Damian and began trying to read the screen of comments.

"What happened down there?" Dick asked.

"Hm?"

The younger man pointed to a bruise that was peeking out from beneath his collar. "I know that I didn't do that and I don't remember any baddies doing it last night either."

"…Let's go for a walk."

"What? But-"

"Please?"

"...OK?"

Bruce led his partner out back and didn't stop until they reached the large green hammock outside beneath the oak trees. He let himself fall down into it backwards to gaze up at the cloudy sky but Dick remained standing, letting the question leak out of his eyes and into the air.

"Well? What did you say to Tim?"

"He doesn't want to talk about it. He left for Titans' Tower."

"We HAVE to talk to him Bruce."

"I know but Diana showed up before I could stop him from leaving."

"D-Diana?"

Bruce blinked his eyes open when he heard a certain uneasiness in his partner's voice and doubled the realization when he found Dick's face turned down in sorrow. 

"Wh-what did she want?"

"To yell at me-what else?"

The frown disappeared but seeing the confusion replace it wasn't much of a relief. 

"Yell about what?"

"US. What else would it be?"

"What did she say?"

Bruce considered his partner, the situation and his own mood. Finally he settled on an action and chosen words. "Come here-lay down with me."

He got two surprised blinks and a double take that made him smile in amusement.

"We have to be physically comfortable with one another and we've got time before breakfast. Come here."

Muscles relaxing, Dick did as asked and crawled into the hammock, letting Bruce wrap him within his arms and pull him up and into his chest.

"Bruce? What did Diana say?"

"Nothing important."

Bruce bypassed an explanation by pulling his partner up and pressing their lips together. He decided to just focus on that for some time. And he tried to describe it. The rapid heartbeat beneath the skin of the chest that pressed against his through multiple layers of cloth. The heat of friction from chests and lips fighting with the heat from their faces. Then the heat of breath stained with a bit of creamy coffee. The pliant, willing push and pull of muscles beneath his hands. All so warm, all so right with his world.

It was wonderful.

Until Dick pulled away and gasped for breath. "Stop...ah...avoiding...the question."

Catching his own breath Bruce did wonder-should he tell him everything? Was Nightwing's problem with the League still Batman? He had offered the invitation a few times himself without Clark's or Diana's acknowledgment and he knew for a fact that Superman had sought Nightwing out-invitation in hand multiple times before. He didn't think Batman was still the problem...perhaps Nightwing simply didn't believe it to be worth his time-saw himself above it even. 

"Just angry words-meaningless words."

"What. Did. She. Say?"

Bruce sighed and glanced up at the sky again, clouded over with light gray. Not dark or heavy enough to rain but still enough to block out any sun and the later year was getting colder. His partner was frowning-getting very irritated. 

Fine.

"She said a lot of stupid things. She doesn't agree. She says it’s a bad idea and that it's just going to emotionally compromise me."

"Won't it?"

"Hmm?"

"Compromise you? US being like this?"

Finding more confidence Dick raised himself up on one elbow and reached up to run his hand through Bruce's hair as his face betrayed uneasiness and Bruce tried to explain.

"The job is already emotionally compromising-especially since I have a family. There's no difference. I already cared too much to begin with."

"Are you calling me a nuisance?"

"I love you. Convenient or inconvenient it doesn't matter. I'm already in too deep with you. I'm starting to believe I always was."

"Doesn't that make this a stupid idea then?"

"No. It makes it non influential to our jobs. Simply, as I said, it doesn't matter. What does matter..."

With this Bruce pushed himself up and reached for the collar of Dick's sweater tracing the line dipping below his clavicle, which made the younger man shiver.

"Bruce," he breathed.

"…is that we're together now. Kiss me."

Dick smirked and said, "With pleasure."

He didn't make it chaste though. He threw himself over his partner and smashed their lips together, breathing harshly as his hands scrambled over Bruce's shoulders; his fingers digging in to the cloth of his shirt. He felt elated when Bruce's hands encircled his hips and began kneading. Even more when Bruce's tongue slipped out and pushed past his lips, turning upwards to lick along the inside of his upper lip. 

He couldn't help the moan.

Couldn't help it any less when the hands on his hips pulled him against the body beneath him and set off the first spark of friction between their lower bodies. No suits this time so he felt every touch. Bruce turned his head and breathed into Dick's mouth as one of his hands rose to rub circles onto his back and the other fell to run down a dark thigh, hooking one hand around it and raising it to bend and press against his own leg. Their chests pressed together as Bruce rose up and pushed them over to lay on their sides; one hand grabbing his partner by the neck and the other pressing the raised thigh into his hip.

Oh gosh-it would be like this if they were...

…were…

-Best not to think about that right now! Just-just please him.

But their scene of passion was to be interrupted as they pulled apart and sat up quickly at the sound of a trio of approaching footsteps. They recognized Alfred's, though they were heavier than usual-an unspoken warning to be presentable upon his and their guests' arrival. Both would have recognized the first guest's steps if on concrete or asphalt but the Manor's yard was different. However Bruce spotted the gray hair first and grew worried.

"Why?" he breathed, catching his partner's attention.

"What? Who is it?"

Bruce let his face fall into contemplation before he made a snap decision and reached for his partner's hand.

He'd never get tired of that blush!

"Bruce what are you-"

He leaned forward and kissed him sweetly, counting one second before Dick's eyes fell closed and three seconds before the steps rounded the line of twisting greenery. 

"Masters?"

Bruce broke the kiss, noticing it had left Dick more red faced than usual, and smiled before turning towards the three people standing ten feet away. And his smile fell into a worried frown. 

There was Alfred, stiffer than ever before and Commissioner Gordon-who Bruce had recognized from his gray hairline. However, the third person was...sharp. In every way. A man he would guess to be about 55 with black and pepper hair, a mid-Caucasian skin tone much worn with age and worry, was dressed in a three piece business suit-all in black with a red undershirt and a black tie. In his hands he was holding a briefcase.

What was this?

"Commissioner Gordon and Dr. Gregory Redbey to see you two sirs."

Bruce forced on his show smile and got up, walking towards his guests while saying, "Welcome gentlemen. What brings you to my home?"

No one offered a handshake-which was fine with Bruce.

"Bruce we're here because of some...news. Which I see now was NOT something the Daily Planet was hoping to use for a cash grab."

Bruce choose not to voice his opinion there, simply turning his attention to this doctor.

"And your friend?"

Redbey cleared his throat and spoke, "I appreciate the meeting Mr. Wayne but it is not you I am here for."

His gaze passed Bruce and landed on his partner, who was now getting to his own feet and crossing the area to meet them. 

"Hi, I'm Dick Grayson."

"I'm aware Mr. Grayson. May I speak with you-in private?"

Bruce turned on his empty-headedness at the moment; Brucie Wayne.

"Are you being scouted by the FBI or something?"

Dick shrugged and then turned to motion towards the gardens some ways off. "Will it do?"

"Adequately."

"I need to speak to you too Bruce....alone," Gordon said.

Bruce turned back to the police Commissioner and waved Alfred away to complete breakfast, knowing he would let everything simmer while going to the closed circuit cameras to watch all of them. Dick and the doctor disappeared beyond the greenery and flowers of the gardens.  
Alone finally, Bruce let the empty-headedness fall away and turned a serious frown onto his friend.

"Something wrong?"

"We got an e-mail this morning from the MPD."

"And?"

"It includes a short news article about you holding hands with a certain someone at Lorena’s."

Bruce raised an eyebrow letting the ‘So?’ Question ask itself. 

"It's raised some concerns Bruce."

"At the police station? I'm not aware that I'm breaking any laws."

"I assure you Bruce I have no idea what you're doing and as long as you can stand there and tell me truthfully that you're not hurting him -it's none of my business."

"I'm not hurting him."

The Commissioner took a deep breath and nodded. "And I believe you. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone does."

"It's none of their business."

"They'll make it their business if they believe you're hurting him."

Why did it feel like no one was worried about him-just Dick?

"I assure you there's no such thing happening. We came to a mutual agreement and what we do is our own business. Now, what's Dr. Redbey doing here?"

"He's vice president of Gotham's Partners Abuse Society."

Bruce closed his eyes and clamped down on his temper. Wanting so much to assure Gordon that if he even thought of lifting a hand to his partner that like 100 meta humans would be catching his hand mid-movement, another 75 meta-humans would be arriving to beat him up within the first ten minutes and then the remaining 150 non-super speed meta-humans and vigilantes would be there within thirty minutes to help them!

And that was IF a few choice villains didn't show up first to castrate him! While the anti-villains and anti-heroes stood to the side selling the tickets!

But there were just things that Gordon agreed that he didn't need to know. This was one of them. 

"What does he want?"

"Just to talk to your partner, make sure nothing shady is going on but I warn you; Dr. Redbey isn't known for letting things go."

* * *

Alfred watched on the screens of their security system as the men conversed, looking away only to check his watch on occasion, since he couldn't hear the oven timer from so far away. The men just appeared to be talking calmly and after five minutes when he was pushing the burning of the biscuits in the oven Damian came to his rescue asking about the men outside and volunteering to watch them until his father and partner returned.  
Hopeful that nothing would occur, but prepared for it anyways, Alfred dove back into his breakfast plan in the kitchen. Keeping the Manor up and feeding his charges might be the only way he could help them weather the storm on the way-but he would do it to the best of his ability.  
Biscuits, gravy, jam, jelly, marmalade, apple butter, French toast, fruit (already in the dining room), butter, milk, omelets, waffles, ham, sausage, syrup, honey, steamed carrots and grilled salmon.  
If they were going to face this day-it would be with full stomachs!  
"Father and Richard are returning and our guests have left."  
Alfred nodded at the kitchen door and pulled his serving cart towards the counter.  
"Alfred?"  
"Yes Master Damian?"  
"Ca-May I help?"  
"You...wish to help serve breakfast?"  
"...Richard looks very upset."  
"Of course you may help Master Damian."

* * *

Cassandra was alone in the dining room when Bruce and Dick returned and she was staring down in sad confusion at Damian's phone. Bruce thought about taking it away but conceded that perhaps it would help prepare the children for what was to come. Besides that, his partner hadn't said anything but a muted goodbye to their guests. 

And it was only when they set foot back in the dining room that he finally said something else.

"He's so stupid."

"Dr. Redbey I assume. We'll do a background check."

"There's something there I already know there has to be."

"How?"

"Bruce. REDBEY. Isn't it ringing a bell?"

Redbey. Redbey?

Bruce searched his memories but found nothing.

"It does sound familiar but-"

"Bruce remember the mission? The White Whale and SECRETARY Redbey?"

Bruce's jaw dropped but he closed it just as fast. Yes, he did remember. The lone secretary on the waterfront council, using information of incoming and outgoing ships to send information to his stealth submarine disguised as a monstrous white whale so they could sink them off the coast and raid them. That man had killed dozens of people by drowning the ships' crews or upright shooting them during raids. 

"But he was on death row-I saw to that. He went to the electric chair within a week."

"So we heard but didn't see."

Damn it!

"But what's he doing as vice president of PAS? And with a doctorate? I guess surgery and dye could cover what should be more advanced signs of aging but-"

"Did he have any family?" Dick asked.

"Only a dead wife who was killed by cancer two years after he was supposedly DEAD."

"We need to investigate Bruce."

"You look into it before you head back to New York then. I'll need to be focused on the media right now."

"OK," Dick whispered and stepped sideways to kiss him.

Quiet, they smiled at one another but as expected were pulled away by Cassandra walking over and touching Bruce's arm to get his attention. Dick took the initiative to leave the two alone and take his place back at the table, overhearing Cassandra ask about the comments she was reading on Damian's phone.

He was relieved when Bruce said they didn't matter and to just ignore those people.

As soon as the two sat down themselves Alfred entered with his serving cart which Damian was helping push.

"Alright, breakfast everyone. Oh my, where's Timothy?"

* * *

Things got into a bit of a normal upswing; Bruce went to work, Cassandra went to school where she ended up listening to Stephanie squeal in excitement about her father and his partner for about 20 minutes, Dick finished his play of Othello that evening with Cass, stopped by New York, had a difficult conversation with the JSA about them not needing to watch his place for security purposes, checked into work for a few hours and used the discovery of a falsified account distribution file to start research on Dr. Redbey. 

The talk with Tim finally got done; because Alfred had gotten fed up with the boy slipping in and out of the Manor without meals for the next week. However, neither he nor Tim shared what had occurred during their conversation.

There were protestors, there were angry e-mails and phone calls, there were reporters setting up base camp at the gates of Wayne Manor and there were policemen. The GCPD insisting that the Waynes have guards.

The first day, Bruce got to his office pretty fast and avoided most of the rush. However, peace and quiet was over as soon as word got through the city that he was in his office and people started crowding the streets. He busied himself with coding though and looking over finance reports that were being sent in from different branches.  
The first article he physically saw though flew in through a window.

He had already long ago secured his own office windows to be able to take anything that wasn't a plane, an exploding missile or a flying Winnebago. However, his secretary outside wasn't so lucky. Her windows weren't reinforced but it was the 60th floor. Not many people had access to those windows. Unfortunately, some people did have aerial licenses and even built their own helicopters on occasion.

The first article came tied to a brick which was shot via a giant slingshot on a helicopter through the weakest 60th story window and even took out the fax machine. Bruce had run when he had heard the crash and shriek and had Lucius call the police; who quickly dedicated a copter of their own for patrolling the surrounding sky. 

The article though Bruce accidentally glanced at and internally cursed his trained photographic memory.

_Long Forgotten Thoughts True! The Billionaire and his Boy-Toy?_

Sigh, and it began. He called security and the GCPD, who located the helicopter some two miles away in the river and stopped the two perps from foolishly drowning.  
He allowed his secretary to leave for the weekend and settled back into his reports. He didn't expect any visitors or if he did, he expected it to be a member of the GCPD for an update on the helicopter or about any events concerning his family possibly undergoing harassment from others. Possibly maybe even some ex-girlfriends storming in.

At 8:00 pm when the sun and fallen and the full moon had taken its place in the sky. He did receive a visitor. Two, consequently. He only allowed the first visitor because his head of security told him it was the Commissioner but when his office doors opened he spotted the man standing on the other side of the room near the elevators and framed in his office doorway was Barbara.

He bade her to close the doors behind her and electronically set the lock. He didn't rise to greet her but did push aside the tablet he was using, giving her his attention.

"Barbara. It's nice to see you. Would you care for a drink?"

She shook her head and wheeled over to knock aside his visitor chairs and leaned over the desk on crossed arms. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

He hoped that this wouldn't be the conversation. One of many he was already dreading. Both Dick and he had been with multiple women in the past and he wasn't so delusional that he thought for a moment he could possibly get out of awkward conversations with them if not full blown fights. Hadn't his meeting with Diana already given that proof?

"What the hell do you think you're doing to Dick?"

Bruce blinked and braced for the impacts of thrown words. "I love him."

"Bullshit Wayne!"

Her face twisted into rage and her right fist came down on his tablet, cracking the screen. 

"You use people. You always have. I don't know how you fucking brainwashed him this time but I want it stopped now!"

"There's no brainwashing Barbara."

She huffed and pushed the tablet off the desk, grinning as she heard it break apart when it hit the floor. Bruce couldn't help the sigh that escaped, as that had been an e-mail garnering a partnership with Silph Co. for a two billion surplus, even if he knew beforehand that the sigh would only enrage his guest more. 

"Drop the act Wayne! I know you and I know Dick Grayson! What's your plan and what the hell are you using him to accomplish?"

Bruce shrugged and let himself think about the woman before him. How she had been a figure in their lives. The go-to love interest for anyone who knew Dick or Nightwing. The one everyone always assumed was the woman in his life for years on end.

"I'm just trying to be happy and he appears to be happy with me."

Barbara's face fell into a stone coldness that even Batman would have been jealous of and she growled her next sentences. He was proud of her for that in a round-about sort of way.

"Happy? With the man who's constantly let him in a bit and then stepped all over him like a used doormat the very next day?"

"I admit that we've had our...differences in the past; but we think it's time to let all that go. It doesn't define us right now."

"Don't play the fucking philosopher with me! Dick trusts too easily, he always has. Everyone knows that and he gets hurt every time."

"It's part of who he is Barbara. Right or wrong. Smart or foolish. I'm not going to demand that he change himself for me."

Barbara sat back and let her arms fall off of the table to clutch at the arm rests of her chair. "How long is it going to be this time? You'll love him what the next few days and next week you'll call it off for a bullcrap reason? That's what you do. What you always have"

That unhinged something in Bruce. Small but important and the words were out of his mouth before he could try to corral them. 

"Look in a mirror Barbara! What was this last relationship of yours? You flirted with Nightwing over the radio and then bedded your physical therapist the same night? Two days later you corrupted Nightwing's attempt to match cases with Huntress."

Her eyes grew wide behind her glasses before they turned down again in fury.

"You were watching. What, you already had this plan started and you couldn't risk him possibly having a relationship with me-someone else?"

"Wow that sounds familiar, Oracle."

"You're going to lose him Bruce and I'm going to be the one picking up the damn pieces."

With that she wheeled backwards and turned around to head towards the doors. It was only when she had her hands on one of the ornate door handles that Bruce spoke again.

"You know Barbara. He loved you, no matter what he's said. He did."

"He does."

"He would've built a life with you...happily. Here's some advice Miss Gordon. Next time a man looks at you, makes you take off your mask, looks past everything that you believe is wrong with you and gets down on one knee-say yes and go down the aisle with him."

"Don't worry about that...I have every intention of doing so."

With that she pushed open one of the doors and wheeled herself out. She cast him one more look and reached back to pull the door shut. Bruce was going to have these last words though.

"Stay away from my boyfriend Barbara."

The door closed and something outside crashed to the floor. He heard some mumbling from Commissioner Gordon that followed and sat perfectly still until he heard the elevator doors outside open, some shuffling feet, and the distant creak of counterbalances that signaled the elevator descending. He continued to sit still for a few moments until he was certain the two were beyond rushing back and probably bashing his head in. That expression from the Commissioner he had only caught a glance of had been drawn down tightly, a quiet simmer of rage. His daughter had obviously told him something after the Commissioner's visit to Wayne Manor.

He finally got to his feet and walked around the desk to scoop up the broken remains of the tablet-which thankfully appeared to only require a screen replacement and perhaps a few calibrations.

The thought hit so sideways it almost made him stop and stand still as he examined the device.

Pursuing this relationship with Dick Grayson might lose him Oracle. 

The strange thing was, as he walked around the desk again to slide the broken tablet into an empty drawer, he couldn't bring himself to care. Perhaps he was cheating by pulling up Batman at this moment but it happened anyway.

If years and years of flirting and fucking had gotten Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon no closer than they had been at the beginning...he had nothing to worry about. He wasn't about to lose his boyfriend to her. Even if she did worry him. After all, this was one of the women Dick had loved in the past. A woman who was very skilled and much interwoven in their lives as vigilantes. Still, Batman jumped to the front of his mind at the moment. It wasn't his fault if Barbara couldn't make up her mind about Dick Grayson. She missed him. She lost.

He had won.

Batman felt pride at the victory even if Bruce Wayne felt bad. He had supported them in the past, had wanted to see them work out. What did they have to show for everything over the years? Some flirting that lasted a few minutes and an occasional roll in bed when one of them was emotionally weak. 

Had they actually been on a date? Ever? 

Despite his memory he couldn't recall any plans either had mentioned for movies, shows, parks or dinners. Just plans for quick stops by the Clocktower from Nightwing. 

Perhaps that counted though?

Closing the drawer he threw himself back down into the chair and actually wished he had an excuse to see his partner before the weekend was over. He had a strange urge to hold him. Which was weird. So weird. Deciding he had no other choice he leaned back with a sigh and focused his thoughts on cases.

The Enigma and Babylon gangs were in prison.

The Beta-6 sector and Millen Galaxy treaty was agreed upon. 

Nightwing was investigating Redbey.

So, the Penalty Project jumped to the front of his mind.

He hadn't heard any updates from Batwoman or his new bugs in the Mayor's office; but he still hated how there was so little information on Adora Fields or perhaps a better question would be WHY there was so little information on the woman? Her background hadn't revealed any particular talent with hacking or technology but that didn't mean she couldn't have hired someone to erase or minimalize her data. Then again, erased in systems or not there should have been some kind of data print that it had once existed. Still neither he, Tim nor Oracle had found any-

Oracle.

Damn it! 

He needed to hear Dick's voice. At least hear it. 

Bruce reached for his cell phone in front of a 'new' picture on his desk and took the time to dial out the number instead of going through his listed contacts or the customized speed dial code because...he wasn't sure. He didn't really know. Perhaps he had wanted to give himself some time to put it down and give it up? He didn't know why he delayed or why he was trying this in the first place. Dick would return to Gotham at the start of the week. He could go two days without seeing him. Right?

He groaned and slapped a hand over his forehead as the phone began ringing.

Maybe, just maybe he was stupidly in love. It would make logical sense in the situation. Especially since he wanted-

Beep! Beep! Ping!

Bruce frowned at the sound he recognized of being redirected to Nightwing's comm. was he on patrol already or having trouble with his investigation? He hoped the Redbey investigation hadn't led to something big that his partner had discovered; they really didn't need it right now. 

"Hey partner."

Upon hearing the words, Bruce felt his body and face relax and smooth out. He even caught his lips curving upwards into a smile. His inner Batman voice reminded him momentarily of this danger; that he was becoming vulnerable, but he couldn't bring himself to be too concerned about it. 

"Nightwing. How are you?"

* * *

Another meeting with the Mayor. Town Hall. One Hour. Action?

Bruce studied the message sent by Batwoman and tapped a finger against the tablet twice in thought. He still had so very little on this case so…  
_Maintain surveillance. Report at 1400 tomorrow._

A sudden screech by his ear, proof of a poorly constructed limo-Fritsche Founders would be hearing about this-and the mind edge of an irritated butler, reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing. The very thing he had announced on national television just hours before. 

The ‘what’ he was supposed to be focused on.

Well…the ‘whom’ he was supposed to be focused on. 

With a silent breath he closed his eyes against the sudden stinging lights stabbing their way through the now partially opened window and reached over to slip the tablet into the compartment in the door. He took a moment to admire the layout of the velvet cloth lining of the limo and turned to the quiet man staring out across the street at another long line of flashing cameras. Smiling, Bruce pushed himself across the seat and brought his hands up to rest on his partner’s shoulders. There was a short intake of breath, much too controlled to be called even a miniscule gasp, and then a relaxing of muscles. 

“Nervous?” he breathed out.

Dick shook his head but leaned back into his…boyfriend’s?- that was still weird!-embrace.

“You?”

Bruce bit his lip and quietly admitted, “Worried.”

“Of what?”

“The usual: death threats, snipers, poison, attack dogs, plagues, alien invasions-spontaneously exploding 10-tier pink cakes…”

Dick chuckled and leaned backward even further to rest his head on Bruce’s shoulder with a grin.

“…angry ex-girlfriends, Nazi vampires, reanimated food, ninja decapitated corpses, zombie prostitutes…”

“So…the usual?”

Bruce nodded against Dick’s shoulder. 

“Usual.”

Dick leveled his head and glanced out the window with a sigh at the hundreds of camera flashes taking completely useless pictures of the tinted windows that surrounded them. He even shared a laugh with Bruce as someone tried to open one of the doors and obviously failed. 

They sat in silence for 17 seconds when Bruce pulled away and frowned.

"What is it?" Dick asked.

"I...have a question."

Dick smirked and asked, "Getting sentimental on me?"

"...Yes."

"Heh. OK. Go ahead."

Bruce's eyes darted to the portion separating the back of the limo from where Alfred was driving and just stayed there.

"Did you...ever think about this?"

"Huh?"

"US. All these years?"

Dick blinked and shrugged before he answered, "Honestly Boss, no."

That...hurt. For some reason-it hurt a bit inside Bruce's chest. Not that he had had any past high-state imaginings with his partner but-

"All those tabloids and you never...?"

"Nah. You were my best friend and it's like a law of childhood that you can't marry your best friend."

"..."

"Bruce?"

"..."

"Hey are you OK?"

"...Marry?"

* * *

_Del Frisco’s_ was a yellow scar against the black sky of the city. A high degree steakhouse that this night and only this one night, boasted the cliché elongated red carpet from the street to the entrance. Extra lights had been added along the windows and the building had been cleaned inside and out in preparation from their visitor. Half a dozen straight-backed waiters and waitresses lined the space from ten meters outside to inside the entrance, and a dolled up hostesses was waiting at the greeting archway within as they all gazed at the scene outside and around half of them. 

Barriers had been set up, given this visit had been publicly announced, for everyone’s protection. Not that it had stopped a few choice reporters from attempting to climb over them. Thankfully a squad had showed up quickly and began conducting crowd control. It appeared that everyone wanted a piece of the incoming news.  
Finally, the security team tightened their stances and the crowd grew louder as someone shouted about an approaching limo. It got through quickly and at the beginning of the red carpet. It stopped to display its back door which, if someone had noticed it jerked the smallest centimeter. Alas, the recognizable figure of Alfred Pennyworth emerged from the driver’s seat and circled the vehicle. Head down he reached for the handle and gently opened the door. The overhang of the roof hid the figures inside until finally a single shined shoe appeared and every photographer’s camera erupted into showers of light.

“An enjoyable ride Mr. Kent?” Alfred inquired.

Clark Kent stepped out of the limo who leaned in closer to Alfred to whisper, “Yes, but this wasn’t necessary for Bruce to do.”

“Master Wayne is Master Wayne Mr. Kent. Your lady?”

The nerdy reporter shifted nervously in the pressed suit he wore and turned back to the door and held out a hand to the darkness. A slim hand extended to take his as a feminine voice whispered out to him.

“Smallville relax. You need to work the crowd.”

Out of the limo’s darkness emerged the firebrand brunette, wearing a shiny plum colored gown, matching wedges, lavender wine gloves and a faux white mink. Her hair was curled into ringlets, an amethyst rested in the silver bed of her necklace, silver hoops hung from her ears and her face was made up with minimal make up and a silver handbag hung alongside her hip. 

As expected more camera flashes erupted as the two joined arms and began their walk down the aisle. 

“Doesn’t this bring back memories Clark?’ Lois murmured to her husband.

“I remember I was a nervous wreck.”

“See, just the same as our wedding was.”

Oh that sure helped!

Clark took a deep breath and tried to ignore the questions being thrown at them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Kent how did you land the interview?”

“How intimately do you know Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson?”

“Mrs. Kent does your husband wear boxers or briefs?”

OK That was getting really annoying.

“Apples or oranges?”

“Any preview news on the couple?”

“When will they be arriving?”

“Yes or no; does Mr. Wayne still sexually abuse Mr. Grayson?”

Trap question. Clark just breathed unnecessarily, trying to ignore the fact that he had been one of the spectator reporters on the other side of the velvet rope lining the edge of the red carpet once upon a time.

He stumbled a bit when he realized he was as a matter of fact walking down a red carpet. He…wasn’t used to this. In little time at all they were arriving at the hostess and Lois was saying: “Kent.” The hostess, a pretty, young girl with dark hair and rose decorated glasses nervously smiled at them and motioned to the far left, asking them to follow her. Trailing the girl Clark took a quick look around. It appeared that every diner and staff member had some type of hidden camera or recording device on them and everyone had their eyes trained on his wife and him. He knew it wouldn’t be for long though; the star couple of the night wouldn’t be very far behind them. A few minutes at most.

They traveled up three flights of stairs and stopped at a rustic looking sliding door covered in what he assumed was decorated French words. The hostess slid open the door which Clark took a spare moment to use his x-ray vision on and found that that it was sliding plates of steel covered in wood and cloth. She led the couple to a strange triangular shaped table made of crystal surrounded by couches on two sides composed of down. In addition there was a red light emanating from the center of the crystal table.

“May I take your coats Mr. and Mrs. Kent?”

Once the apparels were hanging on a crystal rack across the room the hostess returned and began a speech she had probably been practicing for a few days once they were settled in.

“Welcome to Del Frisco’s Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I’m Belle Adams and I’ll be your head hostess this evening. You have my guarantee that you will be given the highest quality service possible tonight and that no one will disturb you while you conduct your interview. Simply move your hand over the red light in the center of your table if you require anything at all. You may try it if you wish.”

Lois was already there watching in contentment as the color changed from red to green and back to red under the wave of her hand. Interesting. 

“Now, what would monsieur and mademoiselle like to begin with?”

Clark went to speak but Lois beat him to it. “We’ll have Berodoux of a good year and start with your Shellfish Plateau.”

The girl smiled and exclaimed, “Excellent. Would you like anything more before your company arrives?”

“That’ll be it. Thank you Ms. Adams.”

When she vanished behind the sliding doors Clark was reaching for his phone and his wife was already setting up her tools: smart phone, voice recorder, tablet, notebook, a 12 count pack of pens, microphone, camera and three emergency charge packs. Now, Clark Kent had long ago realized that asking Lois how she managed to carry all of that in a purse that was not large enough to hold all of it in the first place was irrelevant. He would not fall into that trap again. 

“What’s their ETA?” she mumbled, reaching out to align the pens and power on the camera.

Clark turned up his hearing and heard the distinct roar of the crowd outside not three seconds later. Wow Alfred had been fast retrieving the other limo. Then again Bruce and Dick might have been waiting nearby incognito. Knowing Bruce after all…

“Five minutes if the crowd pushes past security.”

Lois nodded and opened one of the notepads, clicking open a purple pen and setting her eyes on the door. This was, after all, the story of the century and the fact that her husband was not only Superman but a close friend of the couple in the spotlight was already laying foundations of prepped praise in her mind. True, Clark and she would be working on the article together, but her husband had to face facts; SHE would be the one writing this article. He would of course be previewing and editing out anything possibly damaging to the subjects in question for security. 

They would be big names after this though. 

Her eyes traveled down the list on the first page of her first notebook, there were two others hidden in her dress, going over them with a critical eye. After all, she had to be careful. Nothing to send Bruce Wayne running off or drop Dick Grayson into a rage. Those were consequences she did not want to face. 

She unfortunately got distracted when Clark slid his arm around her waist and kissed her temple lightly. Inwardly she sighed, her inner darkness lashing out and yelling, “CLARK I’M TRYING TO WORK HERE! DO YOU MIND?” Outwardly she smiled and turned to him pressing their lips together with a breathless sigh. 

That’s when the door opened and the subjects of their future article rushed into the room followed by the hostess Belle who was blushing and straightening her glasses hurriedly. 

“Silly string. They have silly string!” Dick was yelling shaking a strand of yellow off of his arm and blowing a string of blue off of his face. 

Thankfully, it appeared that he had escaped most of it but billionaire Bruce Wayne was nearly tied up in streams of pink.

“My security head is getting fired for this!” he shouted, swatting at the streams of silly string clinging to his suit jacket. 

Lois and Clark couldn’t help it, they busted out in laughter and Lois was quick to take a few funny if not shaky pictures. Even if she never got to print them she wanted to memorialize this in a hidden scrapbook somewhere!

“Oh laugh it up you two,” Dick growled, flicking away orange from his shoulder before turning to help his partner escape the monstrous mass of magenta.

“I do apologize Mr. Wayne, my manager is contacting the NYPD for more officers.”

“Just bring the wine,” he muttered trying to twist out of the blanket of silly string. 

“Yes Mr. Wayne,” she muttered before sliding out of the door and quickly and quietly as possible; her eyes wide and fearful. She already knew she had screwed up, there was no way she was keeping her job now!

Finally calming down from laughter Clark rose to his feet and walked over, motioning to his eyes and then the walls.

“No cameras,” Bruce said. “You burn this suit though and-“

“You have 200 more,” Dick interrupted, stepping back. “Go ahead Clark.”

Dropping his glasses below his eyes Clark spread out his microscopic heat vision and burned the shades of pink silly string off of his friend’s suit; though he was certainly questioning who had pelted the duo with silly string and where they had actually gotten it.

Bruce breathed a sigh of relief and his eyes immediately began searching the material for burned threads. Dick rolled his eyes at his partner’s OCD and turned to Clark with a smile.

“They get you guys too?”

“Actually no,” Lois said from the table, leaning back into the booth and staring down at the blurry pictures on our camera’s viewing screen. “Who got you anyway?”

“Luthor,” Bruce growled. “Kent, if you don’t want Arkham moving in keep your villains in Metropolis.”

Clark blinked twice and asked the obvious: “Why would Lex Luthor pelt the two of you with Silly String?”

Bruce ignored him in favor of swiping off a few leftover molecules of silly string from his right arm that didn’t exist. Dick smirked and muttered something about cake before saying, “In Gotham I’d say it’s chirotophobia but considering you it might be Xenophobia. You may have Luthor convinced that we’re all aliens.”

“I guess that makes yours enochlophobia,” Bruce said with a slight smile before leaning over to peck his partner on the cheek.

“Hey!” he protested both comment and kiss.

“All three of you are going to have gynophobia if you don’t get over here and let me have my interview!”

The three men straightened up and sheepishly crossed the room to join Lois at the table, who was smiling sweetly and looked ready to begin. Bruce went to speak but was quickly cut off by the woman.

“I ordered the Berodoux of a good year.”

“OK and-“

“The shellfish platter. Conversation over. Questions now.”

“Wine’s here,” Clark warned before the door slid open and a waiter dressed in a wine red suit was pushing a golden cart into the room.

Well here went nothing.

* * *

“When did you begin this relationship?”  
“October. Excellent choice of wine Mrs. Kent.”  
“Stop trying to distract me Wayne.”

“Who initiated your relationship?”  
“Oh this was all Bruce’s fault Mr. Kent.”  
“Hey!”  
“YOU are the one who kissed ME Bruce!”  
“…you’re the one who said yes…”

“Is your family aware of this relationship?”  
“Obviously. Have you seen the people I live with? My son would never allow me to harm my partner.”

“So Damian Wayne is content with your relationship with his father Mr. Grayson?”  
“I believe so. Dami and I get along very well.”  
“Actually my son is constantly spot checking our relationship.”  
“Bruce they don’t need to know that.”  
“He put a dead skunk in my shower because I made you frown!”

“So what kind of activities do you engage in as a couple?”  
“The usual: dinner, dancing…midnight strolls through the city we love.”

“Mr. Grayson how did you react when Mr. Wayne initiated your relationship?”  
“Oh…I was kind of shocked of course. Heh, we’d always been friends. A relationship was just something I never really considered to be honest.”

“And why is that?”  
“Well Mrs. Kent you never really see yourself with your best friend romantically. At least, I never did.”  
“Mmmm….kay. I can see that.”

“How was your first date Mr. Wayne?”  
“Oh, quiet really. We spent lunch at Taylor’s café in downtown Gotham. Just some quiet time for the two of us.”

“And how did you like the date Mr. Grayson?”  
“It was nice. Not as much media coverage and a distinct lack for need of security guards.”

“That’s always nice. So any future plans for the star studded couple of the year?”  
“The usual, dinner, dancing and nightly strolls.”  
“Without Metropolis’ Silly String.”  
“Yeah, there’s that.”

“Mr. Grayson how would you describe your relationship with Mr. Wayne?”  
“Surprisingly…harmonious.”

“And you Mr. Wayne?”  
“Socially worry-free.”

“What about your future? Mr. Wayne?”  
“I’ll do everything to ensure this works.”

“Should we be hearing wedding bells soon Mr. Grayson?”  
“Clark!”  
“Oh as a matter of fact my partner was just talking about it.”  
“Bruce, shut up.”

Lois closed her first notebook as the star couple exchanged expressions of annoyance and teasing. She couldn’t help a bit of a girlish giggle at it as their hostess returned with another golden cart, the top shelf holding two golden ice buckets where the deep red Berodoux was glowing a bright crimson through the parting ice cubes. The group watched closely as she protruded a sudden serious ambiance of professionalism. She carefully moved the line of large wine glasses lining the front of the cart and took the first bottle up with a careful hand draped by a fine white cloth. The glasses each glinted as the wine splashed against the inner glass. The stems each cooled by the liquid changed from clear to frosted patterns of red, blue, orange and violet.

Bruce said nothing but reached for the closest pair, which were the red and blue, placing the former to the left side of his silverware and handing the other over to his partner. He caught Lois out of the corner snatching up the orange and handing the violet to Clark who smiled so adoringly at being handed it that Bruce automatically knew it had to do something with a memory between the married couple. 

He had to give them the benefit of the doubt though. At least they were-

If he had any previous intention of going anywhere with that thought, it fluttered out the window the moment he took note of his partner’s expression. He knew it all too well.

He had that look about it him. The one where compassion for others always followed. Dick glanced at him for a long second, his eyes asking. Bruce nodded and reached for a drink of his wine, whispering it against the liquid too quietly for human ears but certainly loud enough for a super sensitive Kryptonian. 

“Isn’t the view of New York just wonderful here?” Dick asked, turning his gaze to Belle, whose face grew a little warm before she nodded. 

“It must be a great experience working here.”

“Oh yes,” she breathed, fidgeting with the locking mechanisms on the golden cart.

“I think Metropolis could benefit from a Del Frisco’s.”

“Oh indeed,” Lois threw in.

“Truly?” Bruce asked, receiving a pair of nods. “Hm, I’ll call the manager to discuss it. With a recommendation for out lovely hostess.”

The young woman’s hands shook as she finally unlatched the locks on the cart and began pushing it towards the door. “I-I thank you Mr. Wayne. Your appetizer will be arriving shortly.” 

In the next breath she was out the door.

“Little fast there Bruce,” Dick muttered.

The man shrugged and took a large sip of his wine. 

“Are you actually considering it?” Lois asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lois had survived in the superhero business for far too long not to notice an elaborate plan in front of her eyes.

“Why not? The project should be good for a rainy day.”

“It’ll rain tomorrow,” Clark mentioned his pinched eyes aimed at the large bay window that made up the far wall and let them glance out over the city.

“Perfect,” Bruce said with a smile. “She’ll make a good manager.”

“Well, if the secret fiancé is OK with undermining dear daddy’s expectations.” Lois threw in.

All of them blinked at her twice and she threw up her hands in frustration with an added groan.

“How-” Dick began and was quickly cut off as Lois motioned to her neck and began explaining.

“She’s got an engagement ring around neck and her ring finger has a paler stretch of skin where she normally wears it. Adam Del Frisco and Belle Adams are embedded in the ring surrounding the diamond. Francis Del Frisco obviously knows nothing about his son’s engagement or it would be in the papers already.”

Dick leaned sideways, his long bangs brushing against Bruce’s shoulder before he said, “You ever think about a cowl Mrs. Kent?”

Lois smirked, gave no answer and reached for her wine, taking a long, self-satisfied sip of the bright red as her eyes searched out the small icons of moons and stars inlaid on the orange frosted stem. She turned her gaze back to her notebook and set her glass down to slip the now complete notebook into her purse. She reached for the second and scooped up her camera as well. While she had a few clear sections in the second notebook for observations it mostly contained the list of photos she ‘needed to get’ ‘wanted to get’ and photos she ‘might just end up with’ Perry had been a real hoot with the last list. She would apparently get a meat box for Christmas if she got a photo of one of them in a thong. 

She doubted it would happen. Jimmy had just gotten really lucky that one time Superman was fighting that sentiment washing machine from Saturn. Which her husband had already extensively warned cough*begged*cough her not to talk about. 

“Ready for the photo shoot?” she asked while the doors opened again and a young man rolled in another golden tray with the appetizer sitting atop it. 

Dick nodded and Bruce turned his attention to the arriving food. Hmm…trouble in Wayne Manor with the butler being stubborn to get a point across? Interesting. Further investigation required. Though, judging from Dick’s sudden raised eyebrow Lois hadn’t been the only soul to recognize it. 

She let the waiter lay out the appetizer for the four and even waited until he left room! Then she was on her feet with the camera, shooting a comment to her husband.

“Clark get the view, the room and a close shoot of the décor. Don’t forget the crystal table and coat rack. And the floor, we’ll find a way to use it.”

“Yes dear,” Clark said with an eye roll before he pulled his digital camera from his pocket and got up to approach the window. 

“Does this mean we get all the food?” Dick asked, hands itching to grab at the shrimp.

“Works for me, but that also reminds me,” Bruce began, snatching the first piece of shrimp and claiming the tartar sauce all for himself, before turning his attention to his date, “I had you tested for hyperthyroidism right?”

The younger man wasted no time in being the first to eat the shrimp before nodding. “Yeah, but then we got sucked into that storybook, had to fight the water and fire people, launch ourselves over that giant pit of fire, rescue that princess and steal Aladdin’s magic carpet.”

Bruce huffed out, “I hate when they’re doctors and scientists. Really need a revamp to include morals in their education.”

Dick shrugged and reached for the chopsticks to check the sashimi.

“Alright-pose!” 

The new couple smiled at one another as white flashes filled the room as they fed one another the tiny morsels of aquatic life that would get them scrutinizing looks from their Atlantean friends.

* * *

The night had flowed by quickly ending with satisfied smiles from the reporters, no more attacks of silly string and a hasty switching of limos (the duo eventually ending in a red Volvo) to ensure the paparazzi outside followed the decoys. Bruce and Dick found themselves laying the seats back after finding a back parking lot and staring up at the lights of the city while they waited for the crowds to disperse.

Dick turned on the radio and eventually had to settle on a slightly static-filled station playing some mixture of blues, country and pop they could barely hear because almost every single frequency was broadcasting _News_ aka them.

_News_ aka them.

“That went well,” Bruce commented. 

“You sound like you’re checking all of this off of a mental list.”

“Maybe I am. Surprised?”

“Nah, it’s just like you. So how long are you thinking-an hour?”

“73 minutes.”

“74.”

“Deal. Loser takes over laundry duty from Alfred on Friday.”

“Deal.”

Dick reached over and took his partner’s hand in his own, his eyes sparking with a certain…expectation. Bruce sighed but turned to stretch over and share a kiss.

Crash!

Unfortunately, the single brush of lips was as far as they got before they turned their attention to the building they were parked behind, both sets of blue eyes flying upward and taking note of the now broken window that definitely hadn’t been there before.

“Ugh, work,” Bruce grumbled.

“Let me guess suits in hidden compartment in the trunk.”

“Panel on the left. Hit it twice.”

Dick rolled his eyes with a: “Knew it!”

Suiting up was a little longer than usual but in little time they were battling a gang of thieves who were so determined to get a can opener from an 85-year woman which Batman happily confiscated from a ghost- pale thug with an eye patch. Dreams of pirate adventures Nightwing guessed as he found himself back to back with Batman on the rooftop, surrounded by the idiots. 

Unfortunately, this is when the radio they had left on suddenly picked up the signal clearly from the far away radio station because…he didn’t know. Nightwing couldn’t find an argument though. It wasn’t often they got background music!

_There I was again tonight driving laughter, forging smiles_  
_Same old weary, lonesome place_  
_Walls of dishonesty_  
_Ever-changing eyes and vacancy vanished when I saw your face_  
_All I can say is it was captivating to meet you_

“Oh man, Racheal is going to kill me.”

“I’ll kill you if you don’t use that pipe!”

It was fun to snatch the pipe out of goon #4’s hands and launch it at eye-patch-leader. Who got it perfectly around his good eye too. Ouch!

“You want to try that again?” Nightwing asked with a smile as he reached back and grabbed another thug by his shirt collar before flipping backwards over his head and planting a knee into his back that took him down onto the roof.

Goon #4/Pipe guy shook his hands and head, turned tail and ran towards the edge, hopefully landing on a fire escape on his way down. OK, now they knew the smart ones-well smart one. 

“AHHHH!”

Who honestly taught these guys to go in screaming while swinging their weapons? Braveheart this guy was not. Or would Beowolf be the better analogy?

It didn’t take much but a sideways step and trip up with his left foot for Nightwing to send him sprawling over his downed companion. Straightening back up Nightwing blocked an incoming machete (it was way too easy to buy those things) to the face with his ecrisma sticks and secretly met his partner’s eyes a few steps away. Batman was mirroring him with his bladed gauntlets holding back a larger butcher knife. Three thoughts ran through Nightwing’s mind at that point. One: What the hell was that elderly woman doing with a serrated butcher knife? As they had seen the guy pull it out of a utensil drawer in the lady’s kitchen. Two: He really needed to consider those bladed gauntlets because the toys were the best part of the job. And Three: with just enough force…

He gathered his strength and shoved the guy back and-

_Your eyes murmured "have we met?"_  
_Through the room your silhouette begins to make its way to me_  
_The lively conversation starts_  
_Counter all your rapid remarks like passing letters in secrecy_  
_All I can say is it was captivating to meet you_  
_Oh I was so captivated to meet you too_

For Batman, the music was rather annoying. There was a reason they didn’t fight to music-because it was distracting while in life and death fights. But taking the time to go back down and shut it off would take his time away from his current battle-which he was already committed to so-eh he’d work with it!

While tossing one thug off of the rooftop and listening to him hit the fire escape a few floors below, his mind went to the can opener their leader had been after. The small object was now in his belt and was probably the reason he had most of the gang after him. Fortunately, this group was very slow at just generally moving. Momentarily Batman allowed his mind to wander as he ducked under a punch at the normality of life lately and its distinct lack of chaos. Yeah, he had decided to pursue a relationship with his original partner and suddenly evil universal conquers, terrorists, evil scientists and mutated three story high cockroaches decided it was time for some R&R. 

He didn’t buy it. 

He picked up the skinniest of the gang and tossed him into another. Turning he drove his fist into the-uh shirtless one with purple hair. What were kids thinking these days? And forced his thoughts back on the can opener that was the intended goal of this…focus group. What did they want with it? 

He’d already seen knives on most of them, why would they need a can opener and need to frighten an elderly lady because of it? They were what? $2.00 for this model at the convenience store on the corner? This was making about as much sense as Luthor’s silly string attack earlier. Still, to be on the safe side he would have them scanned and order a general checkup this week.

He back stepped and locked his wrists to release the hidden blades on his gauntlets before bringing them in front of his face to stop a…was that really a cutlass?

That’s when he met his partner’s eyes over the bald thug. He assured himself that these were merely observations. He’d track and get names and information later. Still they were both mirroring the other and the smirk on Nightwing’s face was so predictable. 

Eh-why not?

Batman braced his feet against the rooftop and tensed his muscles. One great shove sent the man backwards at the exact moment Nightwing did the same with the one with the serrated butcher knife. Hm, he’d have to question that one.

_This night is shimmering, don't you let it go_  
_I'm wonder struck, blushing all the way home_  
_I'll devote eternity wondering if you knew_  
_I was captivated to meet you too_

The two thugs fell back and Nightwing flashed Batman a smirk and thumbs up as the two men clashed skulls first with one another before groaning and falling down. 

There was a double flash of silver and both vigilantes jumped back as more blades embedded themselves into the rooftop below. The building clearly needed some maintenance. Batman turned and raised his left bladed gauntlet to block a switchblade while he struck out with his right to simply clobber a guy.

_The haunting problem kept me up_  
_3am, whom do you love?_  
_I questioned till I'm wide awake_  
_Now I'm wandering back and forth, wanting you at my door_  
_I'd open up and you could say,_  
_Hey it was captivating to meet you_  
_Oh I was so captivated to meet you too_

Nightwing was convinced that it was a fetish. Hell, he remembered when they had first met Firefly, and people had questioned his fashion sense while that guy had been running around? A gang obsessed with pointy things that they stole from the elderly wasn’t really much of a shock to his system or mind. Though he couldn’t help the question entering his mind. Was a can opener just missing from their list? Or was this something more specific?

He kept wondering as he elbowed another guy in the ribs and tackled a second away from his partner, silencing him with a chop to the throat before throwing himself back, turning mid-air and landing a kick into another guy’s face. 

This was how one wrapped up a date with Batman. Just some casual but-kicking. Stuff he could actually understand.

_This night is shimmering, don't you let it go_  
_I'm wonder struck, blushing all the way home_  
_I'll devote eternity wondering if you knew_  
_I was captivated to meet you too_

Batman crouched and scooped up the earlier fallen pipe, bringing it down on the orange basketball cap as heavily as he dared with his strength. Continuing with the force he knocked back two other men armed with steak knives. He almost wanted to shake his head at the display but didn’t, reminding himself that they had spent so much time developing bullet resistant material that knives had good habits of sliding under the paneling of armor. He took a quick glance at his partner hopping about and then dismissed his worries. 

Nightwing was too much of an aerial fighter for a knife to pin him for long. Batman was surprised to find himself at the disadvantage really. His basic costume, while mostly built for stealth had a bit too much armor for this situation. He really needed to pack the lighter evasion suit for these events. Oh well, it was back at the cave and as he always did-he made do with what he could lay a hand to. 

He mentally apologized to whoever had left the bag of sand on the rooftop and took it up. Using it first to smash through a trio brandishing broken scissors and then bracing it against a downward slash from a sharpened garden shovel, he managed a cheap smokescreen affect for a few seconds.

More than enough time. 

_This is me hoping that this was only the first page_  
_Not where the fairy tale ends_  
_My heart will echo your name until I meet you again_  
_These are the secrets I held back as we were parting too soon_  
_I was captivated to meet you too_  
_Please don't be in love with somebody else_  
_Please don't have anyone expecting you_  
_Please don't be in love with someone else_  
_Please don't have anybody waiting on you_

When he got two more down that were wearing matching sweaters, he stepped back and found himself pressed back to back with his partner inside of a ring composed of the six remaining thieves, including the leader who had reclaimed the pipe that Nightwing had given him a black eye with.

“Well, this is fun,” Nightwing whispered with a grin and slight jump.

“This turns you on?” Batman questioned.

“Smacking around bad guys? Duh!”

“Hmm…noted. Let’s finish this. Agent A promised me cheesecake if you returned happy.”

“And what did Little D promise?”

“No bloodshed for one week.”

“Oh, we’ll have to jump on that one”

“Robin’s excluded.”

Nightwing rolled his eyes as they both tensed for their last move and muttered, “Of course.”

He’d see those two to agree on something before he met his end. 

_This night is shimmering, don't you let it go_  
_I'm wonder struck, blushing all the way home_  
_I'll devote eternity wondering if you knew_

Batman took in the leader and the two lackeys by his sides. The leader wielding the pipe, the left lackey grasping at a broken hand saw and the right waving a very large ice pick. 

Simple, charge forward, ice pick into the foot, catch the saw and knock said saw lackey and leader out with the two ends of the pipe. Done early, he began walking the battlefield, knocking away the sharp weapons with his feet and zip-tying the downed enemies. In addition, he kept an admiring gaze on his partner 

_This night is perfect, don't you let it go_  
_I'm wonder struck, flying around all alone_  
_I'll devote eternity wondering if you knew_  
_I was captivated to meet you too_

Nightwing just couldn’t punch and be done with it. He just didn’t function like that. Remaining goon #1 he took out with an upper kick to the jaw, the second he jabbed in the funny bone to paralyze his arm and make him drop his weapon ( a strange shaped piece of pottery) and the third…he couldn’t help it. After twisting the guy’s wrist to take away the split knife he was brandishing he took the opportunity to flip up onto the man’s shoulders, plant his feet into the guy’s back and send him sprawling forward. He turned and caught just as his partner stepped forward and shot out a fist to meet the guy face first. 

“Now that’s finesse. And you better share that cheesecake by the way,” Nightwing warned.

“Only if I get a kiss right now.”

“A business man through and through. Eh? OK, but then we tear out that radio.”

_I was never in love with anyone else_  
_I never had anybody awaiting me_  
_'Cause you were all of my dreams come true_  
_And I just hope you knew_  
_I was so in love with you_

Nightwing smirked and walked across the guy they had just downed, hearing him groan from the pressure of his boot pressing into his chest, before reaching his partner and raising his hands to rest them on Batman’s shoulders, stretching up to press a kiss to his lips. Thick arms locked around his waist as the kiss continued. He gasped slightly as Batman forced his tongue through his lips but he commanded his body and muscles to relax as the kiss turned into something so much more sensual thanks to the adrenaline in his veins.

It wasn’t exactly how he expected the night to end but hey-he’d roll with it!

* * *

After the police arrived and calmed the residents of the building and Nightwing directed the events of the theft he grappled up to the rooftop across the street and hopped a few taller buildings before stopping at a department store where a familiar shadow was waiting behind the maintenance shed.

“The Cutter gang all apprehended?”

Nightwing nearly rolled his eyes at the name. They never claimed fetish gangs were the most intelligent of criminal classes.

“Of course. Where’d you hide the car?”

“You don’t need to worry. Come here.”

He managed two steps before Batman was talking again and pushing someone out of the shadows with him. 

“We have a visitor.”

Nightwing saw red and black followed by a sheepish frown behind a domino mask.

“Robin, what are you doing here?”

The teen wonder was sweeping a foot back and forth against the rooftop and tapping his bo staff against it as well. Sure signs of I-don’t-want-to-be-here-itis. 

“Uh, Agent A kind of intercepted my departure from the cave and-uh…”

-Be awkward apparently. Batman clearly wasn’t going to say anything now that Nightwing could make out his closed inward form pressed against the wall, muscles tense and arms crossed. Clear that his intentional plans for the evening had been interrupted by something. It was the whole shut-down deal Bat-package. It really shouldn’t have surprised him. Though the teenager was currently his concern and as his partner didn’t appear to want to talk-Nightwing guessed it was up to him. Although, part of him still scoffed at the fact that this had been a clear impossible task for Bruce. 

“…and is currently holding my laptop hostage…”

Go Alfred!

“He’s impeccably stated if I do not do this he will return it in pieces that will and I quote, “never fit back together again” and that kind of scares me so-here I am.”

“Here you are,” Nightwing said quietly glancing at Robin and then at Batman trying and failing to grab at some intangible straw of conversation.

“So…”

“So?”

“This is weird; you understand?” Robin asked, not looking back at Batman but staring directly at Nightwing.

Nightwing chuckled and answered, “How do you think I feel?”

That made Batman blink his way that unconsciously stated they would be having another heavy discussion later but right now, Tim-Robin.

“It’s going good though, right?”

Nightwing smiled and nodded, his fingertips tracing the inside of his palms in nervousness. Only just stopping himself from clenching them. Nail marks in one’s palm were not good, though he doubted his nails were currently that sharp. 

“OK. Listen, it’s awkward.”

“Again Robin, we’re aware of it.”

“Yet, you two are still pursuing this!…OK. I-well I just want you two to understand why it’s awkward for me.”

He already guessed it was something along the lines of Robin seeing him as an older brother and Bruce as a father but he left that to the teen and remained quiet, his fingertips pressing a bit harder into his palms where they hung by his sides. 

“It’s essentially my big brother is dating my teacher. I don’t know what to do with that.”

“Oh…” Nightwing breathed and glanced as his partner looking for…something.

Something found? Nope. Still the same as the wooden plank of the wall he was leaning against. Typical he’d shut down around others even when it came to their relationship. Nightwing supposed that would take some time. He glanced back at Robin and searched for words. Unfortunately, he only found a few. 

“I’m sorry.”

Robin huffed and threw up his one free hand. “Don’t be sorry. Tell Agent A we had the conversation so I can get my laptop back. I’ve got an extraterrestrial to deal with and I need that hard drive at the very least.”

Nightwing smiled at the cross of demand/relief of humor. Unfortunate that Tim was just really bad at it.

“Listen, I’m sorry this is awkward for you but-“

“Ah! Don’t. It’s weird but I’ll get used to it.”

“…we don’t want you closing yourself off from us.”

Both Robin and Nightwing’s heads snapped up at the quiet voice escaping Batman. They even blinked at the same time. Though from his still closed up stature one would never guess that Batman had spoken at all 

“I won’t,” Robin mumbled, took a slightly deeper breath of surprise and continued, “I just need some time to get used to this. I don’t dislike it.”

He turned back to Nightwing and forced a smile that appeared a bit more genuine than usual.

“Call Agent A?”

“Done.”

Damn! That got scary when Batman talked out of nowhere.

“OK, I’ll take the car back. Enjoy your night.” Robin said.

The teen wonder turned towards the nearest rooftop edge and waved back at them before disappearing. 

Wait-the car?

Nightwing turned back to his partner with an unfocused scowl, his voice deep, “You’re letting him drive the Volvo from New York to Gotham?”

Free of the third presence Batman unfolded his arms and slumped backwards a bit with a soft breath before saying, “If there’s a scratch on it he doesn’t get his laptop back.”

“Ok. So…how do we get back to Gotham then?”

“…we don’t.”

At this, Batman’s lip slanted the slightest of degrees to the left before he pushed himself away from the wall. Closing the distance between them in absolute silence-eyes drawn down determinedly. 

Uh oh.

Nightwing took a single step back but it did him little good. He found himself bound by strong arms once again that he was getting dangerously accustomed to.

“Wait, what about the cheesecake you promised?”

“Batjet. Air delivery. Your place.”

“My pl-“

He was silenced by his partner’s lips. 

His place? Could that mean that he wanted to…tonight? Nightwing was convinced when the arms around him let go and reached for his hands, pressing palm to palm. 

…

Of course, gone was any plan of heading out directly before a series of throwing knives had them pushing apart. Batman seeping back into the shadows and Nightwing diving off of the rooftop, thankfully grabbing a very conveniently placed fire escape ladder. Before he could catch his breath though he heard a struggle on the rooftop above and forgot the necessity of re-in taking oxygen favoring firing his grapple at the edge of said rooftop instead. Within seconds he was throwing himself over the edge and taking in the scene. A very bad one at that. 

Because he was the last one Nightwing had expected to see. 

On the opposite edge of the rooftop Batman was locked in close quarters combat with none other than Deathstroke. 

UGH! The last person he wanted to see tonight was Slade Wilson!

He reached for his ecrisma sticks but then paused at the glint of the line of new darts in his gauntlet. It was true, he didn’t make a habit of using the Usagi serum much as the potency was too high for normal humans but it would come in handy now with a super soldier/assassin. Aiming for the bends in Slade’s armor that he really wished he didn’t know about that intimately he received a trusting look from Batman over the assassin’s shoulder. He fired three, just to be certain Slade would fall under the drug’s sway with his raised metabolism, and mentally cheered when the first one pierced his neck, the second hit behind the knee and the third jammed itself between the indents of the back plate. 

In normal humans; they’d drop in two seconds. In excessively fit individuals, like vigilantes, it would take five. Supersoldiers...he couldn't be certain.

Nightwing didn’t bother counting the seconds before Slade was out because Batman tripped him up and managed half a dozen direct dynamite punches straight to his face. So that was what he counted instead. Nightwing swore he even heard the cartilage in Slade’s nose crack, heal and then crack again from the next punch. When he saw the nose was sideways at the end he realized that, healing factor or not, that was going to hurt like hell later. 

“So…” he began, “…Fun Night?”

Batman got to his feet and glared. Great he was in trouble and it wasn’t even his fault this time!

“Should I be expecting Mr. Marvel or Owlman to drop in next?”

Nightwing laughed uneasily, raising his hands minutely in mock surrender. “Not unless you’re finishing our date in space or you’ve gotten the sudden urge to open an alternate dimensional portal. I swear, I have no idea why he’s here.”

Batman huffed and kicked childishly at Slade's unconscious body because he felt like it before kneeling down to bind his wrists, arms, knees and ankles with multiple cuffing while Nightwing made his way over to kneel and divulge the assassin of all of his weapons. 

Beneath the cowl, Bruce told himself it didn’t mean anything that his partner was much too intimate in his knowledge about where Deathstroke kept all of his weapons.  
Once they had all been thrown into the dumpster below in the alley off the side of the building Batman tied their adversary to an exhaust pipe and sat down on the raised edge of the rooftop to wait. Nightwing had just sorted out the last of the knives and walked over to his partner. 

“So, we’re just going to wait around until he wakes up?”

Batman grunted once, paused and then spoke gruffly, “Judging by his metabolism and the amount of serum you injected into him he should be waking up in six minutes.”

“Shouldn’t you call the League or I can call the Titans?”

Batman glanced away from Deathstroke and up to his partner as he answered, “No. I want to know why he’s here. What he wants.”

Nightwing scoffed and crossed his arm over his chest. “It’s Deathstroke. Look, let’s just call Superman and then…”

He paused and then smiled softly, Batman tracking his partner’s expression as he turned his attention back to Slade. He didn’t move or even flinch when his partner sat down next to him and leaned close to press a kiss to his cheek. Nightwing glanced once at Slade, making Batman’s jaw tighten before he turned back to his partner to lean in and whisper to him softly.

“Let’s call someone else to lock him up and head to my place. I don’t want to waste a minute with you.”

With that, Nightwing raised his right hand to press into Batman’s opposite cheek guiding his face around to bring him into a kiss. This time, he kept his patience in check moving his lips slowly and sensually. A promise of more if-

-If Batman would just hurry up and go home with him!

Still he pushed himself closer, internally begging because one, they needed to get somewhere private and two, he REALLY didn’t want to put up with Slade at the moment, or any moment in the future. In fact, the silver tongued assassin could gleefully disappear into the Phantom Zone right now for all he cared. 

Nightwing felt when Batman reached up to run his fingers through his hair before his entire body moved back, breaking the move of intimacy. Nightwing huffed and pouted while his partner simply stared at him. 

“Come on Boss, I don’t want to be here. I want us-“

He was cut off when Batman moved his hand from the back of his head to lips.

“It will just be a few minutes. Don’t think I’m not aware you’re rolling your eyes behind the mask. I’m certain that I want everything tonight that you want but…I don’t believe I’ll have this opportunity again.”

Nightwing reached up and curled his hand around Batman’s wrist, pulling the hand away to ask, “Opportunity?”

“Slade Wilson has always wanted you. Too bad you’re with me.”

Nightwing blinked and coughed out a, “What?”

This time Batman leaned forward and reached out to wrap his free arm around his partner’s waist. Lips pressed to his companion’s ear the Dark Knight finally whispered, “You’re with me and I- “

Pause for dramatic effect…

Batman grinned. “…I fully intend to gloat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is of course a parody of Enchanted by Owl City/Taylor Swift. Whichever one you prefer.


End file.
